Pilgrim's Path
by Robert Falcon
Summary: A young quarian takes her first steps along her rite of passage into adulthood, knowing neither how important a path she would find herself walking nor whom she might meet along the way.
1. Chapter 1

_And so it begins._

_ As I mentioned before, the response I had to Pilgrim's Comfort inspired me to continue with the concept. This is not so much a sequel to the oneshot as it is an explanation. We will follow Tali as she leaves the fleet to see how her path brings her to Normandy, then continue to see the mission from her perspective._

_ I give no guarantees on the timetable, but I'll keep writing as regularly as I can. I handed this off to a buddy to beta read, but I haven't heard back yet. Still, I really want to get this on-line. If he notices any major problems, I'll fix and repost._

_ These first chapters will be more difficult as I have little to go on, just comments made over the two games that I'm making into an approximate path. If I get a brainstorm, I may add to them over time._

_ Feel free to comment, criticize, and make suggestions. Feedback is always appreciated, and I'm more than willing to consider other viewpoints._

_ I hope you all enjoy the read. I'll keep this up and see where it goes._

_And, as always, I do not own Mass Effect or anything pertaining. I'm just playing in Bioware's universe for a bit until they toss the next installment our way._

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"You'll do your father proud, kid. Of that I have no doubts."

Tali'Zorah nar Rayya smiled within her helmet, the gesture bringing a soft chuckle by reflex. "I hope so, Admiral Gerrel," she replied. In truth, all she wanted was for her father to be there. She wanted to see him one last time before she left, for there was no way to know how long it might be before she could see him again.

At long last, the day had come. She had reached her twenty second birthday, and it was time for her Pilgrimage to begin. Tali had done her research, had pulled news reports in from as far as she could, and had packed additional supplies for when her travels took her far away from any dextro-compatible food. Still… one could never be entirely prepared to leave the only real home they'd ever known.

They had gathered in Rayya's garden plaza, one of the few larger open areas in the fleet. Its decorations were few, but served as a welcome break from the rest of the fleet. Plants hung along its walls, grass crossing the floor. Mist sprays provided them with needed water and nutrients. Prayer words were written in quarian high on the walls. At its center was a small amphitheater, a dais giving place for officials to conduct whatever was the business of the day. All that marred the plaza were the containers stored in its corners and dispersal cylinders stacked along one wall.

To mark the start of her Pilgrimage, Tali had chosen to have a small gathering. Close friends were there. Captain Kar'Danna vas Rayya, captain of her birthship. Admiral Han'Gerrel vas Neema, an old friend of her father's. Admiral Shala'Raan vas Tonbay, a friend of her family for longer than she'd been alive and better known to her as 'Auntie Raan'. A few others were present, though Tali had already given her farewells to most of those she would be leaving behind.

The air filled with laughter as they spoke of her time with the fleet. Tali could have sworn they were trying to make her embarrassed with stories of grand heroic action. "Really," she countered, "it wasn't that much. I was just there when it happened."

"Just there," a friend replied, with mock disbelief. "I read the report, Tali'Zorah. If you hadn't locked down that power conduit we would have lost systems over half of the Rayya."

Captain Kar'Danna chimed in. "I was strongly considering speaking with your father about that. I know you will be joining another crew, but I am sure we could find an honorary place on Rayya's manifest for you."

That did it… Tali's head fell as her hand went to her faceshield. She sighed, the group laughing at their success. Still, this was what she had wanted; a reminder of what she left behind, and what she had to look forward to when she returned.

Only one was missing from their group…

Raan walked over to her, carefully guiding her from the group as they continued plotting the next story to revisit. It was almost as if she could sense Tali's thoughts. "All will be well, Tali'Zorah." She reached up, touching one hand to Tali's helmet in the quarian gesture for affection. Tali, warmed by the contact, returned the gesture. "Remember that we are all waiting for your return."

"I know," Tali replied. "I just know that everyone is expecting something… great from me. Being an admiral's daughter and all…"

"Do not worry about that," Raan said. "Your Pilgrimage will lead to where it will. You shouldn't feel need to bear any more burden over this. All we ask of you is that you return, Tali."

Tali looked up to her again, uncertain what to say. Before anything could come to mind another voice cut in. "I could always make that an order, if it would make you feel better."

Tali, making sure not to wrench Raan's arm from its socket, turned to see the new arrival. "Father!" She ran to him, throwing her arms around him as he did the same to her. "I…"

"You what?" he asked with a slightly mischievous tone. "You thought I would miss your big day? Your mother would never forgive me."

Raan, seeing that Tali would be fine, simply gave a nod to Rael'Zorah before turning to rejoin the group. Rael moved back, holding both of his daughter's arms in his hands. "I can't believe this day has come already," he said. Tali knew why he would think something like that… His work kept him busy. Kept him away from her. "But I know you will be fine," he continued. "You're just like your mother. Strong, independent, intelligent. She would be so proud of you right now, as I am."

Tali looked up at her father. "Thank you, father," she replied. She knew he meant every word. At least, she wanted to know that.

"If I may, Tali, I had a request."

She suddenly got the impression that this wouldn't be a simple request. Still, she nodded. "What do you need?"

Rael straightened slightly. His voice came more quietly, as if trying to ensure no others in the room might hear him. "While you are on your Pilgrimage… If you happen to come across any geth technology; pieces, parts, anything that is inactive and cannot reactivate on its own, let me know."

Tali's eyebrows furrowed beneath her helmet, her head tilting to show her confusion. "But… why, father? What are you planning?"

"It's for a project I've been working on," he explained. "Something I've wanted to start. Ways to test new weapons against the geth. It may be the key to retaking the homeworld one day."

She considered it for a long moment. The idea seemed dangerous… but the risk could be minimized. It wasn't like he was asking her to sent intact geth to the fleet. Components, casings, minor systems… If properly checked, they'd be harmless… Finally, she nodded. "All right, father. But are you asking me to go…"

"No!" he quickly interrupted. "I wouldn't ask you go beyond the Veil, no matter what the possible gains might be. If you hear something during your Pilgrimage, however, or if you find a derelict ship that has drifted outside the Veil, THEN I would ask you to look."

Tali nodded again. That was reasonable. "I will keep watch."

"Thank you, Tali. You don't know how much that means to me." She believed that as well. "Anything new would be especially helpful. Something the geth developed on their own, so I might get some idea as to their thought process." Tali had little else to say, simply nodding to him. "Well… Let's get back to the fun, yes?"

She tried to put it out of mind. Tali understood. Her father had been focused on the fleet for her entire life, working to aid in its defense or its return to the homeworld. She had long come to accept it… but it didn't help that he brought it with him that day. With time, though, she was able to relax and enjoy the gathering once more.

Or rather, find herself sighing once again as another harrowing tale of her valiant acts was told.

It had to come to an end, though. The fleet would not remain there forever, and Tali had chosen this place as the starting point for her Pilgrimage. The Migrant Fleet was visiting a turian station, Kelith Prime, at the edge of the Turian Hierarchy. The flotilla had been there before, and it was one of the few places Tali knew of that actually welcomed them.

The group slowly gravitated toward the corridors between the garden plaza and the docking port slated for shuttle transit to and from the station. Additional temporary decontamination stations had been set up to handle the extra traffic. Past that, Rayya's corridors were like those of most of the fleet. Viewports and bulkheads were decorated with more words of prayer. Storage containers were netted to walls, ceilings, anywhere there was room. The corridor itself as strangely clear, as the usual leaks from various systems had recently been repaired.

It was good to know that she was leaving her birthship in decent condition, at least.

Tali was surprised to discover the others had brought gifts to give as she began her trip, though given that she'd done much the same for others she shouldn't have been. Some offered additional programs for her omni-tool, ranging from reminders of the fleet to simple amusements. Others gave her extra provisions, which she slipped into the shoulder bag she carried. One offered a pistol. She hoped she wouldn't need it, but she accepted it nonetheless. A few gave credits, which she didn't turn down. More resources to start with would be helpful.

She bade the group her final farewells, sharing hugs with Auntie Raan and her father before turning to the shuttle. Remaining longer would only make things hurt more… Best to just get started.

She looked out the shuttle's side viewport at the station. It had a large central sphere with six smaller 'satellites'. Three of those were spherical as well, three others more rectangular with docking spars stretching into space. All three hosted quarian ships. Below the structure was a smaller power generation sphere, all parts of the station connected by tubular corridors. The shuttle launched, slowly pulling away from the Rayya and allowing Tali an unparalleled view of much of the Migrant Fleet. She found her hand coming to rest of the viewport, wondering when she would set foot on the flotilla again.

By the time the shuttle had landed, most of her people had already returned to their ships. The flotilla was set to move on, to continue the search for the resources they needed to survive. Life on the flotilla was difficult, but one always knew they could count on each and every person to do their part. A part of her was looking forward to this, though. A break from the crowds, a chance to see the galaxy on her own terms.

Perhaps tomorrow she would actually FEEL like she was looking forward to it.

Tali found her way to a lounge area of the station overlooking space beyond. The flotilla had formed up, steadily moving toward the system's mass relay. It would be a few minutes before they jumped… but Tali had the time to wait. She wanted to watch them go.

She started to access more local news reports on her omni-tool. Much as they tried, the Migrant Fleet couldn't always tap into the extranet for the latest news, and she would need all the information she could get if she wanted to succeed. She set it to play audio through her helmet, lest she disturb the peace of those around her. Most of it was routine: talking of Citadel politics, the latest gossip of extranet film stars, new products entering the marketplace. Quite boring.

One report caught her eye. She pulled up more information, the report's audio coming up. "And in other news today, the Human Alliance has just launched their newest warship. Constructed as a partnership between the Human Alliance and the Turian Hierarchy, the SSV Normandy is an advanced frigate with a number of innovations which should allow her unprecedented stealth capabilities. Unfortunately, further information could not be gained at this time, though the officials we spoke with are looking forward to seeing how well the Normandy performs in her initial trials." The report continued, speaking of the Normandy's name and some of the people involved in her development, though Tali had been interested in the ship itself.

Normandy… She sounded like an incredible ship, for what little was said of her. Perhaps she should plan some stops in Human Alliance territory?

A flash from the viewport caught her eye. Tali stood, walking for a closer view. The ships of the Migrant Fleet steadily made their way through the mass relay, heading on to the next star cluster. She waited there, watching them vanish in small groups until the Rayya finally passed through.

There were so many she had left behind. Many who would be waiting patiently for her return, and many who would be counting on her to succeed. She knew that she could succeed, that she must succeed.

That she WOULD succeed.


	2. Chapter 2

_Wow…_

_This is officially the fastest response I've ever had to a story on this site. Thanks for the reviews, folks! Keep 'em coming!_

_Wanted to make a few responses, answer a point or two that was brought up._

_**Mr. Martin:**__ Much as I love that mission, it's a bit beyond the scope of this story. Not to say that I won't ever write it, but it'll be a bit before it happens._

_**Nezahoo:**__ You made an excellent point. While I am planning on switching things up a bit for the main mission, try a different spin on them, I DO need to focus on things we haven't seen yet. I'd already planned on a number of scenes between the missions, but I'll add a bit more polish to them when I get there._

_**Firespray:**__ (Though this continues from Nezahoo's comment as well) Gotta say, I had initially thought the beginning parts of this story would be difficult to focus on. Wanted to get to the main story quickly. Hearing the comments from you two, though, I actually revised my plans. So, there's now several chapters more stuff before we even get to the Citadel, and it might play in later on with the story._

_Again, thanks all for the comments. I'm glad that there's folks out there enjoying this little adventure, and it adds to the motivation to continue it._

_Now, back to the fun, and I'm off to finish planning out Chapter 3._

_Once more, Mass Effect is owned by Bioware. I've own no piece of it, other than the copies sitting in my room._

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Tali tried to keep the muttering to a minimum. Just because this drive motor was being a bosh'tet didn't mean the turian needed to know it was being a bosh'tet.

She had been on Kelith Prime for several days. Not finding a suitably interesting place to launch herself toward, she had settled on keeping herself busy for the time being. There was always something to do on a border station like Kelith Prime. Ships were coming and going, supplies being moved from one cargo bay to another, various systems in various states of functionality. All of those were very technology heavy, and technology had a habit of breaking when you needed it working most.

Luckily, they had a quarian visitor with little to do.

"Okay," Tali said to her latest temporary employer, "try it now."

The turian nodded, leaning over the control console as he tried to bring the sled to life. Designed to assist in mid-size cargo hauling, the sled was pretty much a rectangular platform, raised control console, and a pair of treads for movement. The main motor for one side was working fine. Its brother on the other side, however, wasn't. Once more, the sled tried to turn hard left rather than go straight. He shut it down immediately.

Tali sighed, again muttering as she reached back into the sled to figure out just where its glitch was hiding. It was almost like being back on the flotilla, rarely having any real downtime between repair jobs. Only difference was that she was getting paid for these repairs. Not something she'd ever complain about, of course. It simply meant she'd have more resources to work with.

Deeper within the platform she found the problem. Several of its connections were heavily corroded. After disconnecting them, getting them to more accessible locations, and giving them some quality time with a light abrasive, they looked… well, not good as new but good enough to function. She reassembled the rig, and gave the go ahead for another try.

This time the sled started moving straight and true. Another job, another grateful turian.

She made her way back to the Starview Lounge, from where she had watched the flotilla depart. It was one of the major gathering spots on the station, central to life aboard. Tali had found it an excellent place to watch people, to keep tabs on station events, find what odd jobs were available. It also had excellent access to the extranet, so as news reports came in she could quickly skim over them.

It wouldn't do as a long term plan, of course, but for the time being it was a good way to stall for time. To get comfortable with the idea of launching herself into the great unknown.

Tali started her next run through the reports. In the back of her mind her father's request quietly whispered to her. She found herself analyzing it once again, trying to figure out exactly what he might be planning. 'Weapons tests', he'd said. If that were the case, why not specify that he simply needed plates of whatever armor they were using? Why need in depth components…? Unless he assumed that the geth might start armoring their individual internals… That might actually make some sense… That way, even if their weapons fire punctured their external armor the shots might not have the power to punch through ANOTHER layer of armor. But something like that would have to be light… Too much mass and they'd lose agility…

"Heya, sweet thing. Been here a lot lately, haven't you?"

Unless they'd developed new composites, new alloys… If that were the case, then capturing examples of their armor became even more important. If the processes could be duplicated, even improved upon, the flotilla might be able to apply the technique to their own ships. Even the envirosuits!

"Don't try to ignore me, babe, I KNOW you can hear me in that thing."

If they could improve the suits… What was that? Tali snapped from her line of thinking, looking up to finally notice the individual standing before her. A turian, his attention focused squarely on her. Behind him she spotted a table one turian shy of a full set, the remainder watching them carefully while trying to NOT look like they were watching them carefully. Given how the one before her was not 100% steady on his feet and was slurring his speech ever so slightly, she assumed that the group had gotten him drunk enough to think this was a good idea.

Or that this turian had decided to try the 'liquid courage' method of dating.

Tali rested her hands on the table before her, trying to school her voice into the calm diplomacy that all quarians knew from countless arguments in the Migrant Fleet. "I'm sorry. I was studying some news reports. Didn't think you were talking to me. Is there something I can do for you?"

One of his mandibles moved in a turian smirk. "Talk," he said. "Just talk. Maybe join me in a drink?"

Tali had to fight hard not to sigh. Oh, Keelah… She hadn't lived THAT sheltered of a life. Tali knew what he was interested in. "Maybe some other time," she replied.

He didn't take the hind. "Come on, babe, it'll be dextro! I know what you need."

Diplomacy had obviously failed. "Sorry, but I'm not interested. Now, if you would please, leave me be."

The table heard her response, the sudden chortling of his fellows giving the drunken turian strengthened resolve. "Just one drink." He grasped the chair before him, leaning closer to her. "You'll like it."

So focused was she on the turian and on trying to figure out how best to get rid of him that she didn't see the newcomer until a fist came seemingly out of nowhere to slam into the turian's jaw. "The lady said no," came a gruff voice. "Best you listen to her."

The turian glared at him, rubbing his jaw. He looked back to his fellows for help, but they were all too busy laughing their drunken asses off. The turian snarled, but started away.

Tali finally get a good look at her savior, recognizing him almost immediately. She had only seen one with that combination of gold envirosuit with red highlights. "Kal'Reegar," she said in relief.

Kal'Reegar nar Harliss turned to her and gave a nod of greeting. "Ma'am." Tali quickly gestured to the seat across from her, Kal accepting the offer.

"I thought you were on your Pilgrimage," she said. "Weren't you going to Thessia?"

"That's where I started, Ma'am." Kal has served pre-Pilgrimage with the Migrant Fleet Marines, having the long term plan of joining them fully upon his return. He was already well into his training by the time they'd first met back on the flotilla. Any chances of him using her name seemed to die when he realized she was an admiral's daughter. "Nice world, but didn't have what I was looking for. Wandered around for a few months, heard the flotilla was coming here, thought I might be able to catch up with a few folks before I disappeared again." He gave a shrug. "Guess I was late. What about you, Ma'am? Just starting yours?"

Tali nodded. "Yes, just a couple days ago. Still trying to figure out where to go from here." In truth, she was feeling better than she had since starting her Pilgrimage. Having another quarian nearby was comforting. Having it be an old friend was even better. "I've been reading over news report, but nothing really stands out… What is it you're looking for?"

"Something for the marines," he replied. "New tactics, ideas for weapons or defenses. Maybe even fleet wide upgrades, if I get lucky. You?"

"Well… Nothing quite that specific." She trusted him, but given how her father had pulled her aside before making his request she figured it best not to spread the word. "I've mostly been remembering recent events on the flotilla, trying to use them as inspiration."

Kal leaned back slightly. "Kinda surprising, Ma'am. Would've thought you to have this planned out to months ago. Still, I wish you luck." He leaned forward again, seeing to let it go, much to Tali's relief. "What HAS been happening on the flotilla? I don't get much word, nowadays."

That was easy enough to provide. Tali ran through the last several months, covering as much as she could remember from the time he'd left for his Pilgrimage. Most of it was routine; people coming and going, new ships added to the fleet, several massive caches of resources which were allowing steady improvement to most of the flotilla's ships. "I think the Migrant Fleet was going to move back towards Asari space, if you wanted to catch up with them there."

"Nah," Kal replied, "I've already been there. If I'm supposed to run into them again before my return, it'll happen." He leaned in closer. "Besides, I think I know where I want to head next."

"Really?" Tali's head tilted slightly in curiosity. "Where's that?"

"You heard much about the humans?"

Her eyebrows furrowed. Of course, she had. She just hadn't expected to her him talking about them. "Yes," she replied. "I just saw a news report about one of their ships. What about them?"

"Well, I'm thinking of heading out their way," he said. "I've seen a couple return from Pilgrimages to their space finding some really good gifts for the fleet. Unique stuff. Humans are new out here. Different perspective. Different spins on old ideas. I'm thinking they're worth checking out. If nothing else, it's surely something I haven't seen before."

Tali nodded, giving a thoughtful "Hmm…" to match the thoughtful expression on her face. He made an excellent point. After all, their new ship had been noteworthy enough to garner attention on a galactic scale. It would take her further from the geth, more than likely, but her Pilgrimage couldn't be limited by her father's request. "You're right," she finally said. "They are worth visiting. Though I don't know how, exactly, they deal with quarians."

"That's where them being new really works to our advantage," Kal replied. "Their experience with AI hasn't been as bad as the rest of the Citadel species. They know of the geth, but they don't feel the same stigma about them. Or us." He gave a small shrug. "You know I care about quarian opinions more than others, but I kinda like the idea of going somewhere I don't get glared at."

Tali nodded again, giving a soft chuckle as evidence of her smile. "You've really though this through, Reegar."

"Glad you think so, Ma'am." He paused, and she could almost hear his smile. "Because I was strongly considering asking if you'd like to come with me."

"With you?" She leaned back, head tilted. "But, Reegar, you know the tradition. Quarians are to undertake their Pilgrimages alone."

Kal raised both hands to forestall further complaint. "Hold on, Ma'am, that's not what I was suggesting." Slowly, he returned his hands to the table. "I'm just thinking we stick together for a bit. Safety in numbers, you know?" He was probably thinking safety for HER. As if she couldn't handle herself. It was hardly her first time off of Rayya… "Once one of us gets a line on what we're looking for out here, we part ways." He paused for a moment. "Besides, I'd kinda like to spend some time travelling with a friend."

"Oh…" Maybe she'd guessed his intentions incorrectly… "Well, in that case," she finally replied, "I accept your offer. Whatever I end up focusing on, I won't find it here." Tali pushed back her chair, standing. Kal stood with her. "Feel free to make the arrangements. I'll collect my gear."

"Will do, Ma'am," he replied with a nod.


	3. Chapter 3

_Once again, I'm glad to see that folks enjoy the story. I've been steadily been working through the various ideas trying to pin them down, and I'm getting a better feel on how the story will progress. Little alterations here and there, like this chapter ending a little sooner than I'd planned because I hit a really good end point, but still._

_Once more, excellent reviews and comments. To those who enjoy the story, I hope you continue to do so. To those with more specific comments…_

_**Mr. Martin:**__ Honestly, I was waiting for him to say it. Cool as it would have been, I'm kinda glad they didn't. Already been in both Firefly and Halo 3: ODST. Though I did find myself pretty much channeling Jayne to get the voice style down right, and I've got an idea of my own for later._

_**Nezahoo:**__ Thanks for that reminder. I hadn't gotten to all of the dialogue sampling yet, and I might've missed that part. Luckily, the timetable I had planned on matches that, even with the sudden additions. As for the timing of the geth data… Well… I'll explain my plans for that when we get there. (There's a few numbers that don't add up.)_

_**Candle in the Night:**__ Good catch. I might've downplayed the fact that she's likely not laid eyes on a human before. Knows what they are, I'm pretty sure, but still… Gave me a lot to add into this chapter._

_**Stickki:**__ I'm working very hard to keep them in character, so it means a lot to hear I've got it right. I hope to keep that up once the rest of the gang shows up. However, it wasn't my plan to have Kal remain with Tali when she gets the datacore. I've kinda pegged that as a part of her Pilgrimage focus, and as she told Shepard the Pilgrimage is done alone. I want to keep this canon as much as possible, even with my additions. (There's a couple changes I'm making, though I'll explain once we're there.) I don't want to alter something just for the coolness factor. Though I will admit, having him with her WOULD be very cool._

_And a random note: Is it just me, or could you all see Wrex and Grunt as the krogan bash brothers in Mass Effect 3? I think watching them jump headlong into battle together would be all kinds of epic. Thoughts?_

_Comments are always appreciated. If you see something messed up, just give a poke and I'll correct it._

_And, as before, Bioware owns Mass Effect and all things pertaining. I'm just having some fun._

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Between the set of fine work tools and occasional manipulations with her omni-tool, Tali slowly tried to work some life back into the object she held. The young being before her watched with a surprising level of patience, allowing Tali to remain focused on the task…

Kal'Reegar had found transport for the two of them to the Attican Traverse, the region of the galaxy given to the humans for expanded colonization. Likely, the Council hoped that human influence might bring some form of stability to that part of the galaxy. It could even allow the Citadel Council to expand into the Terminus Systems one day. Doubtful, but a goal worth hoping for regardless.

Tali had joined him partway into the boarding process, her possessions easily fitting back into her single shoulder bag. She had seen few carry weapons openly so both her shotgun and gifted pistol remained hidden in the bag, though positioned to where they could be quickly accessed. The marines had given Kal an assault rifle when he left for his Pilgrimage. Too large to be stored, he carried it on his suit's back. No one seemed concerned.

The Skindall class MSV Galino was salarian owned, consisting of a rounded command section connected to a blocky engine section by a long spar holding two sets of rib like structures. Within the ribs were four cargo pods, two set up for passenger transport and two for freight. Once she had rejoined him, Kal led the way to the ship. He showed their identification to the crewman at the door and the pair were waved aboard.

They wound up in the port passenger pod, Kal finding a position near a viewport and settling in. Unlike Tali, he'd never had much interest in ships outside the flotilla. Tali had started to wander, exploring the two passenger pods to see with whom she was sharing the ride. There were a decent number of salarians, a few asari. She spotted a small group of drell clustered together toward the aft of one pod, her suit reporting it had been made a bit more arid than the rest of the ship, likely for their comfort. Tali only spotted two turians, though they tended to avoid human controlled space. Tensions from the Relay 314 Incident, what the humans apparently called the First Contact War, were still high between the races, though there was no active hostility.

That she knew of, at least.

She was well into her exploration of the starboard passenger pod when she spotted the people she'd been curious about most. Three humans, a family unit. Male, female, child. Tali knew enough about the species to recognize genders at range, but information on the extranet was still lacking. It was interesting, to her, how much they looked like asari… Well, the female and the child, at least. The male…

Tali paused. Why was she looking at them like animals to be studied? They were PEOPLE. And, from the looks of things, they could use some help. The male had knelt down beside the child, and it was clear he was fighting with the small toy the child had been holding moments before. The device had broken, much to the child's displeasure. Tali felt it was time to make her presence known.

She approached the trio, holding back a handful of paces away. "Excuse me?" The two adults looked to her, the child looking with a curious expression. "Perhaps I could help with that?" She gestured to the toy. The fema… MOTHER seemed cautious, though Tali could see it was more from her being a stranger than her being alien.

The father, however, had a more grateful expression. "If you could," he said, "we'd appreciate it."

Tali finished her approach, kneeling beside the father and before the child. From her shoulder bag, being careful not the flash a weapon at the family, she retrieved a set of fine work instruments as well as setting her omni-tool for the needed diagnostics. The toy was relatively simple; a stuffed doll shaped like an animal she assumed was from Earth, able to provide some amount interaction through a limited VI. Still, from the amount of wear on the doll's seams Tali could tell the child was very fond of it.

It took some time for her to sort out the toy's problem, but the child remained patient throughout the process. Tali was impressed; it seemed the child's parents had taken great care to instill proper habits. If these three were any indication, humanity would do well on the galactic stage.

As she approached the end of her word, the child spoke up. "Why can't I see your face?"

The child's parents seemed shocked, likely about to scold the child about the bluntness of the question. Tali did not mind it. Many were curious about quarians, though seemed more likely to delve into gossip rather than seek the truth. Tali looked up at the child's face, giving a soft chuckle to show all was well. "It's because of my suit," Tali explained, her voice schooled into a soft, kind tone. "My people get sick easily when we're around others. The suit allows us to leave our ships." That wasn't the entire truth, of course, but it was hardly the time to go into an in depth explanation of quarian immunodeficiency and how it prevented them from even being around each other, let alone other races. It would be accurate enough, and from the child's nod is was understandable.

And, apparently, not quite enough. "But why can't I see your face?"

Tali nodded, understanding the question. Not 'what's with the suit' so much as 'what's with the faceshield'. "It's our way," she said. "My people like to get into each other's business. This way," she gestured to the opaque faceshield, "we can keep some privacy." That wasn't the entire truth either. There were many reasons why hiding their faces was preferable.

Both child and mother seemed to accept this. In the father's eyes, though, she could almost see… sadness. She wondered how much of the galaxy he'd seen and what he knew of other races… and how those other races tended to treat quarians.

Tali gave one final adjustment to the toy, which came back to life. Its eyes glowed cool blue, servos moving its limbs and head. It sought out the child and spoke, "Well, hi there, friend! Want to play?" The child bounced with delight, holding out arms and smiling. Tali held out the toy, which was accepted gladly and hugged to the child's chest.

Both parents smiled, the mother prodding, "Say 'thank you' to the kind lady."

The child looked up at Tali. "Thank you, kind lady!"

Tali chuckled with her own happiness. "You're welcome." She returned the toolkit to her bag and herself to her feet. The mother gave her a look of thanks and relief.

The father turned to her. "Thank you, miss. Let me give you something for your trouble."

Tali held up her three-fingered hand in polite refusal. "No trouble," she said. "It was my pleasure. Though…" She smiled under her helmet. "Perhaps we could speak for a while? I know very little about your people, and I would love to know more."

The father smiled. "I'd be happy to tell you whatever you'd like to know."

They spoke for several hours, Tali learning a great many things from the father, named Mitchell. It turned into something of a cultural exchange. He did know about quarians, at least more than she had expected, and turned out to be just as curious about her people as she was about his.

What she'd learned for certain was that the extranet had glossed over many of the more interesting details. She would need some time to process it all.

Finally, the conversation ended. She wished the family well and started out of the pod. A flash outside the viewport caught her attention. They were skimming close to a gas giant while the ship's drive core charge was dissipated into the planet's magnetosphere like bolts of lightning into the black. It hadn't been the captain's first choice of stops, but they had been informed of a collision at a mass relay along their route. He'd needed to divert course, but it had allowed them some excellent views. The discharge was nearly complete, and the MSV Galino would be departing shortly.

Tali entered the ship's central connecting spar, moving forward toward the port passenger pod entrance when the ship suddenly rocked hard beneath her feet. She grabbed the bulkhead for support as the ship rocked again. Tali, ignoring proper procedure, ran forward to the cockpit.

There were three stations. The captain sat at helm, a second sitting at navigation. The third was at an engineering console, though it seemed to be little more than a status board. The three salarian crew were glued to their consoles. "They're coming around for another pass!" the navigator cried out.

The ship rocked a third time. "What's going on?" Tali asked loudly.

The captain turned to look at her. For a moment, he looked like he was about to ask why she was there, but in the end thought better of it. "We were pulling out of orbit when a fighter swung in behind us and opened fire. We've still got control, but they definitely took out some of our maneuvering capability. We'll need to lose them, if we can, and make repairs." He paused a brief moment. "I lost contact with the engineering section. Would you go take a look?"

Things had to be desperate for him to flat out ask her like that. Tali nodded immediately. The ship had needs, and she could solve them. "I'm on my way." Without waiting for response, she turned and ran down the spar.

The accessible portion of the engineering section was very basic. Most of the drive's systems were automated, set up for high reliability and not normally meant for intense maintenance by the crew in flight. Still, there were things she could do to help increase the odds of their successful escape. She found the ship's normal engineer, knocked out with his head against the wall he'd been thrown into. After ensuring he was alive, she focused her efforts on saving the ship.

Her suit comm came alive. "Ma'am?"

Tali activated her own on her omni-tool. "Kal, are you all right?"

"Fine, Ma'am," he said. "You?"

"I'm all right," she replied. "We've been attacked. I'm in Engineering trying to help."

"Should I come down there?"

The ship rocked hard once again, nearly throwing Tali off her feet. "No," she replied. "Stay there, Reegar. I'll get back to you when I can."

Kal paused for a moment. "Roger that, Ma'am." He wasn't pleased, but he accepted her decision. Tali was thankful he trusted her that much.

The captain's voice came over the ship's comms. "Any power you can get to the sublight drives, do it. We need to pull away from that fighter more. He probably knows where we're going… but we've got no other choices…"

"What's the plan, captain?" Tali asked.

"There is a habitable moon in orbit of this gas giant. I'm going to put us down on it so we can make repairs."

Tali nodded. Only real chance they had, if they planned to leave on this ship. "I'll see what I can do to boost the power."

The rocking steadily decreased as they got further from the pursuing fighter, but the sound was soon replaced by the rushing of air as they barreled into the moon's atmosphere. Tali could already see they had a problem… The ship could land, yes, but it was moving far too quickly. Their damaged engines could not provide enough thrust.

The captain had seen that. "Engineering, if you cannot boost the power any further, you'll need to eject the pods."

Tali's hand slammed onto the communications controls. "What?! Are you serious? You're going to have me…"

"No!" the captain interrupted. "The cargo pods are designed to be dropped in an emergency. They will automatically land close to us. I've got crew in both passenger pods, and they'll gather everyone together once we're all down safely. The destination is already programmed, but the separation controls up here are not responding." He paused. "You'll need to do it. Trust me."

She sighed. It felt wrong… but Tali had checked the system as he'd spoken. He was telling the truth. "All right. System primed, ready to eject when ready." Her hand hovered over the controls, ready to strike when the ship rocked hard again.

"It's still on us." the captain reported. "Engineering, prepare to drop the port cargo pod. I repeat, the port cargo pod ONLY."

"Right." Tali, quickly learning the controls, disarmed separation of the other three pods. "Ready."

"Hold… Hold…" She knew what he was planning. It was insane, but it was their only chance. "And… NOW!" Tali's hand stabbed the controls, a loud thud sounding through the ship as the pod was released. She heard nothing else until… "Got it! Excellent drop, Engineering. Remaining pods still programmed for drop to landing zone. Rearm and drop when ready, then hang on tight. This might get rough."

Much as she wanted to contact Kal and give him warning of the plan, there was no time. Hopefully the crew had explained it well enough. Tali did as the captain requested, finding a place on the floor where she could sit and hold on to the bulkhead. She closed her eyes, praying that Kal'Reegar, the passengers, crew, ship, and herself would survive the landing in shape to escape from it. "Keelah se'lai…"


	4. Chapter 4

_Another week, another chapter._

_I'll try to keep it to this pace as long as I can. In a couple weeks, my schedule gets a lot more uncertain. I'll post updates here and on my profile page as I learn more. If nothing else, I'll keep writing as I can so that I can post when I get the opportunity._

_Quick question: Is it just me, or does it seem that all sentient species in the Mass Effect universe have an odd number of digits? Five fingers / toes or three fingers / toes. (And yes, I'm counting the thumb as a finger, accurate or not.) Can't recall if Vorcha follow that pattern, but the other races I can think of do. Am I wrong?_

_Once again, Mass Effect is owned by BioWare. I'm just playing around with it for a bit._

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The loss of mass from ejecting the cargo pods did the trick. With less to push, the ship's engines were able to slow their decent to the point that the landing gear could accept the shock. Tali still had to hang on through a sickening lurch, but they got on the ground in one piece.

So the question became: Just where were they?

Once certain they were down, Tali got back to her feet and started working on diagnostics. The doors opened as she finished the first quick pass. "Tenal!" she heard one crewman exclaim, turning to see him kneel down by his injured crewmate.

"He is all right," Tali said. "Though he'll have a headache when he wakes up."

The captain, after checking to his wounded man, walked up to her. "How bad is the damage?"

Tali brought up the first rounds of data. "Not as bad as it seems," she replied. "Most of the actual engine hardware is intact, though several control and power conduits were hit. With the right tools, I should be able to effect repairs." She looked to him. "You wouldn't happen to have spare parts aboard, would you? That would make the work a lot faster."

"I'm afraid not," the captain replied, "but I saw a number of other wrecked ships on our way in." He paused a moment, longer than was typical for salarians in normal conversation. He had a lot on his mind. "I'm thinking that the report of collision at the next mass relay was false."

"It would seem so," Tali agreed. Yes, this was a pretty significant mistake, but all sentient beings made them. The captain was feeling bad enough about it. She would not add to his misery. "Have you made contact with the others?"

The captain shook his head. "We can't. This world has a powerful magnetosphere. It's disrupting communications, though the ship's homing beacon is strong enough to punch through. Everyone should be gathering here."

Tali tapped a few final controls. "I've done all I can here. I want to take a look outside, see what we're dealing with."

"Be my guest," the captain said with a slightly sardonic edge. "I can safely say we're not leaving any time soon."

The group moved to the ship's airlock. The atmosphere had already been determined safe, though with her suit it mattered little for Tali. They had landed in a tropical region, near coastline. The sky was yellow in the coming dawn, trees clinging onto the rocky, somewhat volcanic terrain. Other shipwrecks were visible at varying distances, some on land others in the water. Some looked pretty well intact. The captain spoke up. "Would you work up a list of the parts we need for repairs? I will send my people out to survey nearby wrecks for anything salvageable."

Tali turned to him with a smile and light chuckle. "There's no need for that," she said. "I can make the search."

"Miss," he started, "I couldn't ask you to do that. You've done enough for us as it is."

She held up a hand, forestalling any further argument. "Captain, you're talking about salvaging wrecked ships for parts to get a damaged freighter working. Who better to do that than a quarian?"

There was a mixture of emotions on his face. Concern, surprise, relief. "I… I appreciate it, miss. Still, allow me to send two of my men with you. I'd rather you not go alone."

A familiar voice cut in. "She won't be alone."

Tali turned, her head shooting up and back in the quarian expression for wide-eyed shock. "Kal'Reegar!"

Kal-Reegar, along with the passengers and crew from the port passenger pod, approached them from the trees. He looked to her with a nod. "Ma'am." Kal then looked to the captain. "I caught glimpses of the wrecks. Not enough to look at parts, but more for the tactical situation." The captain cocked his head a bit, as if wondering why Kal would do that. "Migrant Fleet Marines," he responded. It was true enough, and the captain gave an understanding nod. "Some of 'em looked to have landed pretty softly, but there's no one else around. Whoever forced us down here is probably going to come around for a look. Better to keep your people here and ready for defense."

Tali could tell the captain didn't like the sound of that. "We have some minor weapons training, but not much past self defense."

The ship's navigator spoke up. "I overheard some of the passengers talking. There were at least a couple C-Sec officers in the starboard pod. They'll probably be here soon."

Kal nodded. "I heard what you were telling Tali'Zorah. I know you hate to ask the passengers for help, but we might want to see who has any kind of training. I'm pretty sure they wouldn't mind."

In the end, the captain agreed. Once all the passengers had arrived, the crew gathered everyone together. The captain explained the situation to the passengers, his crew, Kal, and Tali offering their own words of support. Several passengers volunteered to help in their defense before the captain had even gotten to his request.

Two turians and an asari were Citadel Security, C-Sec. Generally a policing force for the massive Citadel Station, they sometimes did work outside the station itself. These three, however, had been on leave. Luckily, they had brought enough supplies with them to stand up well in a fight. What surprised her was when Mitchell also raised his hand to volunteer. When the group dispersed, she'd walked up to him. "Mitchell? Are you…"

His smile stopped the rest of her question. He had already gathered some armor and an assault rifle from the contents of the starboard cargo pod. "Yes, I'm sure. I was a marine in the Systems Alliance. Got out because of my family." He looked back to them. "I can't just stand by and do nothing. If there's a stand to be made here, I'm going to help make it."

Tali paused for a moment, not sure exactly what to say. "I'll get those parts quickly, Mitchell. You won't have to stand here for long."

Mitchell gave a chuckle. "I hope not. This isn't where I'd planned to have my vacation." There was a moment of silence, but finally he just gave a nod. "Good luck, Miss Zorah. We'll be here when you get back."

Tali grabbed the pistol and shotgun from her shoulder bag, acquiring a larger, sturdier bag to haul tools and parts in. The pistol went to her hip, shotgun to the small of her back. Kal borrowed a pistol from the crew to augment his own battered assault rifle. Tali didn't like the look of it, but Kal assured her he'd tested it. After a few final well wishes from the passengers and crew, Tali and Kal started off into the woods.

They felt speed was vital, picking the easiest paths they could find along direct routes to various wrecks. Ships which were too small, too large, or too damaged were passed. A lucky find along their path allowed Tali to grab some control circuitry which would be compatible with the ship's damaged consoles. As she salvaged, Kal kept watch. "So," Tali said, "trip going as you hoped?"

Kal'Reegar chuckled. "Can't say it is, Ma'am. Sure, this trip has turned out a little more interesting than I figured on, but I could've handled boring. The fun was supposed to start AFTER we got to the Traverse."

Tali hauled hard against the panel she'd been fighting with, the stubborn piece coming free. She set it aside and started checking the internal components. "What were you planning on, exactly, after we got there?"

"Don't really know," he replied, continuing his careful watch of the nearby woods. "Figured I'd observe security for a bit, see how it compared to our marine tactics. Maybe even find some humans about to go on mission who could use another gun. See where we're similar, where we're not."

She nodded. "I understand." The few salvageable components were slipped into her bag. She stood. "Done here. Let's keep moving."

They finally arrived at their first candidate for a good shipwreck. It had come down under control, and its engine section was intact. Weapons damage had hit the main drive units, but the controlling subsystems were undamaged. It would do. Carefully, they made their way in. Close to the entry hatch was what had been the ship's mess hall. What Tali saw caused her to pause.

Bodies. Many of them. Many species; males, females, children. "You were right," Tali said, "someone will come looking."

There were signs of weapons fire, people trying to defend themselves against onslaught. "They weren't well organized," Kal noted. "No defined lines, no good barricades. Either they didn't expect to get hit, or they were hit before they could prepare for it. We should probably get what we need and get clear fast."

"Agreed." With that, she forced herself to move once more. She headed straight for engineering, grateful to see a similar layout to the MSV Galino. Tali quickly tore into the control clusters, removing the components she would need to make the full repairs to Galino.

Once all components were bagged, Tali and Kal started making their way off the ship. Their trek came to an abrupt halt when they returned to the mess hall. Four beings stood before them. Batarians. All were armed, and all looked ready for a fight. One spoke up. "I thought I'd seen new tracks coming this way."

"Always did wonder if someone would get smart enough to start salvaging parts fast," said a second. "Think we should take 'em?"

"Nah," the first one said, "quarians never sell."

"No one's selling anyone today," Kal said, his assault rifle just about shouldered.

"You say that like we should care," said the second as he hefted a pistol. "Take 'em out. Boss'll want us joining them for the attack."

Tali and Kal split, each diving for cover on opposing sides of the mess hall. The batarians opened fire, two attacking each quarian. Tali heard a loud "braap!" from Kal's assault rifle, one batarian being knocked back several paces as she drew her pistol, keeping herself low as several shots bounced off of the top of the overturned metal table she used as cover.

Back on the Migrant Fleet, all had to be ready to respond to any crisis. Every crewmember of the flotilla had to be a medic, damage control worker, firefighter, security guard, and more. Every ship ran drills several times a week, ensuring that every quarian was ready to do his or her duty no matter what situation might arise. While 'fighting off four batarian pirated on a wrecked ship' wasn't a drill of its own, the weapons drills in which Tali had participated DID give her a basis to work from.

Tali popped up from cover, took aim, and fired of a series of shots at the nearest target. The pistol's large slugs forced the batarian back, knocking outs his shields before his partner's return fire sent Tali back into cover. She heard another burst of fire from Kal's position, focusing on her target. The first batarian fell.

The return fire was fierce, though short lived as the batarians' weapons overheated. Kal fired another burst… but it cut off abruptly. Tali heard Kal's muttered swears as he tried to smack the rifle back into operation. Seeing that his target was now vulnerable, Tali copied Kal's earlier tactics and opened fire with her pistol. He fell as well.

She heard a series of loud thuds across the deck. One of the remaining batarians was trying to charge their position. Tali dropped her pistol and deployed the shotgun, popping up from cover just in time to see the batarian at point blank range. She fired two rapid shots. The weapon overheated, but his charge was halted.

The final batarian fled, chased out the mess hall by both Tali's and Kal's pistol fire. Tali just sat there behind cover for a few moments, her pistol aimed at the door, and breathed. Her first real firefight… And she hadn't taken a hit! But what about… "Kal'Reegar! Are you all right?"

As her head shot over to Kal, she could see he was fine as well. He was already up from cover, satisfied that the batarian would not return. "I'm fine, Ma'am." He looked over his assault rifle. "Rifle's had it, though." He swung it back over his shoulder onto his suit. If there was any chance of repairing a useful tool, a quarian would never willingly abandon it. Still, he looked over the weapons of the fallen batarians. "Ah," he said, seemingly pleased. He knelt down, finding a battle rifle that looked reasonably intact. Kal lifted the rifle to his shoulder, looking down the sights. "This one looks in decent shape. Shiny."

Tali, finally out from cover and checking her suit for any hits her diagnostics had missed, looked over to him with her head tilted. "What was that? 'Shiny'?"

"Yeah," he said. "Something I caught in an old Earth broadcast. Figured if I was heading to their space I'd learn at least a little of the lingo. Not quite sure what it means, though." He looked over to her, holding up one finger and twirling it. Tali nodded, slowly turning in place so Kal could check over the rest of her suit. Diagnostics were usually accurate, but it was always smart to have someone physically look. "You're fine," he reported. Tali returned the favor, giving him the all clear. "We'd better get back," Kal said. "Hard to know when their boss might hit the Galino, and they'll need all the guns they can get."

Tali nodded. "Let's go."


	5. Chapter 5

_And at long last, Chapter 5._

_Sorry for the delay. Meant to post this over the weekend, but… Well, not to go into details, but I had a lot on my mind over the weekend. I'm back to normal, now, so progress has resumed._

_**Stickki**__: Okay, I'll have to admit, you've caught me. I completely missed the fact that Tali has, very likely, never killed anyone before that moment. I SHOULD have said something about it. Didn't even realize it until you asked… I can see it not coming to mind in the last moments of that chapter. (Quarian equivalent of adrenaline.) So, I'll fix that here. And you're right, that battle wasn't intended as a major sequence. I'm still working on how to write Mass Effect combat, and it might take another attempt or two to get it right._

_As for the suit checking sequence: it's a concept I borrowed from Halo novels. There was a sequence much like that where two Spartans check each other's armor visually to make sure their diagnostics didn't miss anything. Nothing kinky was intended by it. If the writing came across that way, it was unintentional._

_**Mr. Martin:**__ I don't think Elysium was batarian specific. The guy who tries to nuke Shepard looked human, to me. Still, good on you for keeping me honest._

_Once more, glad that you all are enjoying this. The reviews coming in have been awesome! Keep 'em coming! I can truthfully say that this chapter saw several major additions based on one I got just today._

_Once more, Mass Effect is owned by Bioware. I'm just playing, and inviting others to join in on the fun._

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The journey back to the Galino was made much more quickly than the one to the wrecks. They still had to be careful. Any falls could cause injury, any strong impacts to the shoulder bag Tali carried could damage the vital equipment she carried. As Kal pointed out, any noise could give away their position to any of the attacking force. Still, both knew what was needed. Their communications equipment would not function, unlike the modified equipment used by their opponents.

If they didn't get back to the Galino first, there would be no warning.

As they moved, she found her mind kept going back to the fight… She'd killed a man. Yes, he'd been a threat. Yes, he would have killed her had she not defended herself. Yes, her actions saved both her life and Kal'Reegar's. But that still sounded… hollow. Who had he been? What had his life been like? Why had he chosen to do the things he'd done? Could he have been rescued from this?

Her actions meant those questions would never be answered.

Tali hadn't realized she'd stopped until she felt Kal's hand on her arm. She looked up sharply. "Tali'Zorah," he said, using her name for the first time she could recall, "you did the right thing. There was no peaceful way out of that mess, they made that clear. If you hadn't done what you did, you might've wound up dead; either there from the bullet, or in a few days from infection. I'd much rather not lose a friend if I can avoid it."

Slowly, she turned to look more directly at his faceshield. The points of light that were his eyes seemed to lock into hers, wanting her to understand exactly what he was saying. The truth he was trying to convey. The marine's mentality, developed to keep one able to fight against any hardship. Tali nodded to him. "I… I understand, Kal'Reegar."

"Glad to hear it." He took a step back, releasing her arm. "I understand if you don't want to attack someone, but you can ALWAYS defend yourself. Being diplomatic doesn't mean letting the other guy try to kill you just 'cause he can."

"I'll remember that." Before either could speak further, shots rang out in the distance… in the same direction as the Galino. Their faceshields met one more time before Kal started running towards the ship. Tali fell in behind him, allowing Kal to keep the lead and direct them further off the path. They moved steadily closer to the tree line, dropping low to see what was going on and hopefully not be spotted.

The other fighters had formed a rough defensive line, various equipment and debris built up as cover with passengers hiding inside the ship, cramped but safe. Shots rang out from both sides, attackers looking for a weak point at which to strike. Kal moved close to Tali, knowing she wouldn't have studied the marine hand signals. "We're at a good flanking position here." He paused a moment, as if second guessing what he was about to say. "I'll start hitting them with this battle rifle. Keep an eye out for me, would ya? Let me know if they start getting bold and trying to come up here."

Tali paused a moment as well. "No…" Slowly, she drew her pistol again. "They need us, both of us, to help. So, I will." She was surprised to find her resolve building. Kal'Reegar's confidence booster must have done more for her than she'd thought.

"Okay," Kal replied. "You take on the closer ones, I'll hit the further ones. They're not expecting any real tactics here, so that should scare 'em off pretty quickly."

"I'm ready."

Kal'Reegar nodded, pulling the battle rifle off of his back and to his shoulder. Both got into good firing positions, took careful aim, and opened fire. The lighter sounding three-round bursts of the rifle were punctuated by single heavier blasts from Tali's pistol. The attackers were caught off guard, some trying to locate the flanking force and others quickly deciding that it was already more trouble than it was worth and making a hasty retreat.

It wasn't long before the attackers were either killed or fled, silence returning to the grounds around the defenders. Carefully, Tali and Kal made their way down and back to the group. Tali was relieved to see Mitchell approach them, looking no worse for wear. "Good to see you two," he said.

"Good to see you're all right," Tali replied. Seeing that Mitchell was well… It very well could have been a direct result of her actions. Vicious criminals were stopped, and an honorable man lived. Maybe, if she could ensure any actions she took led to more good than harm, she could accept it? Or maybe she was setting herself up for an unattainable goal? "Was anyone hurt?"

Mitchell looked to the others, getting a fast assessment. "Minor injuries, but I think we'll be okay. No one got grabbed. That's all that matters."

Kal looked to her. "I'll stay here with the others."

Tali gave him a nod, with another to Mitchell before starting toward the ship. With the threat gone, for the moment, the captain had returned to the ramp. She could see the relief on the salarian's face. "You're back!"

"As promised," Tali replied. She held up the shoulder bag. "I found the parts we need."

"Excellent," he replied. "Tenal, my engineer, has regained consciousness. He's waiting in engineering, if you wouldn't mind taking those parts to him."

"Not at all." The captain moved aside, allowing her to pass into the ship. She picked her way through the mass of people huddled within, soon arriving back in engineering.

Tenal, now up and about, looked to her as she entered. "Ah, you're the one that helped Captain Scathre get us down in one piece… mostly…" He must have sense the indignant response building up under her helmet, because he quickly held up both hands to stop it. "Not a complaint. I know you did all you could. I DO thank you for what you did."

That was acceptable. She nodded, holding the shoulder bag to him. "These parts should work as replacements."

The salarian accepted the bag, seemingly surprised by how heavy it was. Quarians were stronger than they looked. "Wow… Looks like we'll have a lot to work with… My thanks."

"You're welcome. Let's see what we can…"

She was interrupted by the door sliding open. "Excuse me, Miss Zorah?" Tali turned to see the asari C-Sec officer at the door. "Would you mind coming with me for a moment? We're discussing a plan. Kal'Reegar would like you to be there, but wanted to stay on the line."

Tali nodded. "Yes, that sounds like Reegar." She looked back to Tenal, who was already sifting through the bag.

"Go ahead," Tenal said. "I think I see where you were going with this."

"Let me know if you need me," Tali said before turning to nod to the asari.

They worked their way back out to the group on the firing line. Tali could hear their arguments the moment she stuck her head outside the ship. "We can't worry about them," one of the turians said loudly. "We have a boatload of civilians to protect."

"But they aren't the only ones on the planet," the other turian replied. "If we can save them, ANY of them, it's our duty to do so."

"I'm inclined to agree," Mitchell added, "but there's only so much we can do."

"Don't even know their defenses," Kal said.

Tali joined the group, the others looking to her. "Then why don't we look? Could we spare that much?"

"We might," the first turian admitted. "Though I don't know what it could possibly gain us."

Kal, though, nodded to Tali's suggestion. "We might get lucky, see that they're disorganized enough we could slip in and grab… someone. Who knows, maybe we could get good enough intel to bring someone else in to finish the job?"

"It's worth a shot, at least," Tali continued. "It will take some time for the repairs to be completed."

"I'm game," Mitchell said. He looked to the second turian, the one who had supported the rescue. "Krilik?"

Krilik nodded. "Count me in."

"Everyone else should stay here," Mitchell said. "Can't be sure if that's the only group of bad guys on the planet." He had a point. Slavers, pirates, scavengers… Hard to know what they might find.

Three might not be enough. "I'll go with you," Tali said.

Kal responded to that immediately. "I don't think that's a good idea, Ma'am," he said. "Hard to know how much of a fight we might get into. We might need to run like hell, whether we succeed or not."

She knew where he was going with that. "This ship's engineer has it well in hand. We'd probably get in each other's way." Tali set her hand on Kal's arm. "I'd much rather not lose a friend if I can avoid it."

Kal sighed. Something told her he was regretting giving her that line. "All right, Ma'am. Can't exactly order you to stay here." Somehow, she could almost sense the corner of his mouth tugging up into a small smirk. "Though I CAN ask that you stay behind me."

"If that's settled," Mitchell said, "we should go."

They made a quick look over the gear dropped by the attackers, finding several communications devices. One they left with Captain Scathre, taking another pair with them. They split into two teams, Tali remaining with Kal'Reegar and Mitchell with Krilik.

As they progressed, divergent paths seemed to coalesce, steadily directing them toward a single point. Kal noted the advantage of the layout; anyone new to the pirate groups could easily find their way back to base, and any survivors of crash landings would be funneled to where they could be easily captured. They left the path, moving as silently as they could as they approached a tree line. Before they'd even arrived, Tali could see they were up against something… major.

Beyond the tree line was a chasm, rocks blown away to give a large, flat area to build on. At the center was a series of structures, a combination of prefabricated buildings and structures built from ship pieces. All looked reinforced. A wall surrounded the structure, gun positions at regular intervals. Most pointed outward, a combination of anti-vehicle and anti-personnel. Several anti-personnel weapons, however, were pointed inward… Insurance against escaping captives.

There were a few patrols along the walls. Krilik, looking through a sniper rifle scope, noted that they didn't look all too vigilant. Then again, they didn't have to be. There was a large open area between them and the base. Tali couldn't see a way in. She looked to Kal, hoping he might have a better idea. "I've got nothin'," he replied, as if sensing her question. "Something like this… We'd need a bunch more folks than we got, preferably with armor in support."

"You're right, Kal'Reegar," Mitchell replied. "Much as I hate to agree with it, you're right." He sighed. "We can't get in a place like what with what we've got."

Krilik looked between the pair. "You're giving up that easily?" He looked over the base again. "There's got to be a way in there…"

"Yeah," Kal'Reegar said, "as prisoners. Damned likely that anyone who goes in there isn't coming out."

Tali sighed, nodding in agreement. "Then we gather intelligence," she said, "like we talked about before. Look over as much as we can, get the best assessment we can… then get out of here and tell someone. C-Sec, maybe." With a look to Mitchell, she added, "or even the Systems Alliance."

Mitchell nodded. "I'd damn well hope they'd send someone out to deal with this."

"Fine," Krilik said unhappily. "Then let's get it done before we get spotted."

They made another set of observations, picking up a few more details; a landing platform on the far side of the base, and what appeared to be a garage of some kind. No idea what vehicles they might have, but fairly good odds they would be armed.

The four agreed that they had gathered as much information as could be done safely, so they pulled back from the tree line. For speed, they made their way back to one of the paths, Kal pointing the way back to the ship… and almost immediately after his shields flared as they stopped several incoming rounds.

Tali turned, pulling her pistol. Another raiding party was just down the road from them, possibly heading back to their ship. It looked no larger than the last force they'd fought off, but they had no tactical advantage. She started firing rounds as quickly as she could pull the trigger, trying to hold the group force back. The hesitation did not return. Her purpose was clear. She was defending her team, and she would do whatever she had to. The others soon joined her fire, all moving for whatever cover they could find as they continued moving to the ship.

There was a loud yelp to her side as she saw Krilik go down, a bullet punching through his leg. Tali'Zorah dropped to his side immediately, throwing his arm over her shoulder and helping him stand. "Leave me!" he yelled.

"Shut up!" she yelled back. He complained no further, simply doing his best to move quickly as she supported him. Tali gave up shooting, allowing Mitchell and Kal to give them cover. In the glances she managed to steal, she saw Kal aiming and firing with incredible speed; far faster than she thought possible. Mitchell's armor sparked as round after round ablated off, his own assault rifle scarcely falling silent.

How they managed to get back without any further injury, Tali would never know. Seeing that ship, though, filled her with the greatest sense of relief she'd yet felt in her life. The defenders, seeing them coming in hot, quickly took position and gave them covering fire. The scout team joined the line, Krilik even adding his fire after being appropriately propped up.

This second raid was repelled as well, the defenders suffering only minor injuries. Still, they couldn't handle the attacks for very long, especially if those unknown vehicles came into play. Tali helped Krilik back up into the ship and checked with Tenal. She arrived just as he finished the repairs.

As quickly as possible, the defenders were loaded up into the cramped freighter. Captain Scathre fired up the repaired engines, swung to grab the dropped passenger and cargo pods in an emergency snag-and-run, and burned hard for space.

Somehow, by some stroke of luck, they outpaced the fighters. Captain Scathre's voice came over the comm to brace for the relay moments before the first hastily fired shots passed by the viewport. Before the pursuers could get properly aimed, Galino made the relay.

Galino shot off into the safety of FTL flight.


	6. Chapter 6

_Between graduating from my last bit of training and moving into a new place, I've been kinda distracted lately. Finally managed to get this all worked out, thankfully. I'll have more time over the next week, so I'll see where we can get._

_We're just about to hit the major game stuff. I DO have more plans than "copy the game verbatim". I mean, there are a few sequences that work well for an action game but really don't pan out well in text. I'll figure out how best to work with them when I get there._

_**Mr. Martin:**__ I stand corrected. __ I'll have to give that a closer listen when I get there in my next run-through, though it wasn't my intention to copy the idea._

_**Stickki:**__ Well, it would seem you've found the aspect to this story I'll be fighting with for the duration. __ Last major bout of writing I did I had the battle sequences down but the rest of the description was lacking. It's kinda funny how that's switched. It'll be a bit before we hit another major battle, so I'll likely go reread the old stuff and see how I did it before._

_**Eternal Density:**__ I'd figured that even with extra people they wouldn't have the tactical skill or equipment to take down a base of just about any size. There's a few with training, yeah, but it's not an ideal place to plan a strike from. Still, this may get some mileage later on._

_Once more, Mass Effect is owned by Bioware. I'm just playing with the universe for a bit._

_

* * *

  
_

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We have received permission to land at Athens Station."

Tali couldn't help but join in on the ship wide cheer that built from that one announcement. The captain paused, allowing the passengers… and crew… to have their moment of celebration. As it died down, he continued. "Given the… excitement, we will be remaining at Athens Station until we can be certain our repairs are complete and that all crew and continuing passengers are well enough to continue the trip. To those departing the _Galino_, we hope your travels find you well."

As _Galino_ turned on course for the station, Tali got her first good look. It appeared to be an older station which had been upgraded over the years. At the center was a boxy docking facility. It had few larger bays and many smaller docking ports. To one end was a modern complex; a long cylindrical base provided support for a number of dome structures. The far end seemed to be the oldest portion, being an ancient style 'wheel-and-spoke' design of station. Normally it would rotate to provide artificial gravity for its inhabitants. Obviously upgraded with more modern solutions, the wheel no longer spun. Smart move. That would reduce maintenance concerns.

_Galino_ was diverted to one of the larger hangers, allowing her to land in an enclosable space to assess any more needed repairs. Passengers started forming into two groups; those staying and those leaving.

Some had been elevated to a heroic stature; the defenders, Tali and Kal, several of the crew. The other passengers applauded them as they passed. Tali wasn't sure what to make of it. She'd just done what was expected of any crewmember, after all. It was nothing worthy of THAT much celebration.

Mitchell seemed more willing to accept it. He smiled, waved, made note that it was the right thing to do. Tali mimicked his response. Perhaps the celebration was more for their benefit than it was for hers?

They made their way down the gangway, into the station's receiving terminal. Alliance citizens were able to pass through. Others, like Tali and Kal, were directed aside into a customs office. Tali was sent, alone, to what she believed was called a cubical. A human official sat behind a desk, looking up to her as she entered. "Ah, Miss… Zorah?"

She had scanned her IdentCard as she entered the terminal, so she could understand how he would already know her name. "Yes," she replied. "Tali'Zorah nar _Rayya_."

"Please, have a seat." She took the proffered chair in the seat across from him. "This is just an informal interview," he said. "There are some individuals the Alliance feels should be given additional attention."

As kind as his tone had been, she could still hear the underlying connotation. Under her helmet, Tali's eyebrow shot toward the ceiling. Invisible, of course, but her voice tone managed to carry the image. "So you're saying I've been profiled?"

The human had the decency to look embarrassed. "I apologize, miss. I know this really isn't necessary, but they are the instructions I've been given."

"I understand," Tali said. "What do you want to know?"

He relaxed a bit, seemingly gladdened that she hadn't decided to verbally eviscerate him. "What is your purpose in Alliance space? Business, or personal?"

Tali paused a moment, considering the best way to explain it. "Both, in a way. I'm here on Pilgrimage." What followed was a lengthy conversation about the Pilgrimage, her intentions while in Alliance space, and a large number of rules she would be expected to follow. They were common sense, similar to rules held by either the Citadel Council or the Migrant Fleet, with a few changes for human idiosyncrasies. Tali, of course, agreed to abide by them.

Kal was waiting for her in a lounge near the receiving terminal. "There you are, Ma'am," he said. "For a moment, I was thinking I'd need to rescue you."

Tali chuckled. "Thankfully, that wasn't required. Have you looked around the station any yet?"

"Not quite," he replied. "Wanted to make sure they weren't going to run you through any ringers, first."

She nodded in understanding. "If you would like, we could split up and search the station for a while, then meet up once we have a feel for the place."

"Sounds like a plan," Kal replied. "Give a shout if you need me."

Tali smiled with her standard light chuckle. "You as well."

Kal's supposition about the Alliance was decently accurate. For the most part, they had little knowledge of quarians or the geth, so most of them simply regarded Tali as a curiosity and not as a threat. There were a few who had spent more time outside of Alliance space, however, and she could see more in their eyes.

Quarians knew well how they were viewed by other Council races. Ever since their exile at the hands of their own creations, the quarian race had little, if any, say in galactic matters. They were seen as scavengers, little better than thieves. In many visits to other stations before her Pilgrimage began she learned how to hide in a group of strangers, to appear as nonthreatening as one could when encased in an envirosuit. Those skills served her well on Athens Station.

She made her way to the newer domed section of the station, passing through a market district. It was dominated by humans, with kiosks selling just about anything legal one could think of. Still, the technology she saw was not much different from what she'd seen at other stations or around the fleet. After what she'd heard of their new ship, _Normandy_, she wondered just how advanced the humans really were.

"3000 credits for a flux dampener? All I said was I needed that one recalibrated, not flat out replaced!" Tali turned to look at origin of the yell. A human, likely a merchant, stood before an equipment dealer. Unlike Mitchell, he was mostly bald with some hair wrapping around the sides and back of his head.

"I'm telling you," the dealer replied, "it's shot. You're better off getting a new one."

She wasn't sure why, but Tali found herself gravitating towards the pair. She popped up onto her toes, trying to look at the dampener. "Is that a DX3-Bravo?" she asked without thinking.

"Yes," the merchant replied. "Do you know much about them?"

Tali nodded. "I rebuilt one about three solar months ago."

"Would you be willing to take a look at this?"

Another nod. "Sure." The merchant reclaimed the dampener from the dealer, holding it out for Tali's inspection. She examined it carefully, reaching into her shoulder bag for one of her fine works tools once more. After several minutes of careful adjusting, during which both the merchant AND dealer were watching intently, she returned the tool to her bag and the dampener to the merchant. "There. That should be good for another six months, minimum."

The merchant looked over the dampener, smiling. "Thanks! And here I was thinking I'd be stuck here until my cargo spoiled. Here," he said, tapping commands into his omni-tool, "let me give you something for your trouble." He had finished before she could decline, so she gave a gracious bow of her head.

"How'd…" The dealer was floored. "How did you do that? I was certain that dampener was toast."

Tali looked to the dealer. "Quarians have had to learn how to fix anything and everything we can. There's no guarantee we'll find a dealer in time, or have the resources to afford new parts, when something goes wrong."

"Hey," the merchant started, "if you're free… Think you could give my ship a onceover? Make sure there's not anything else waiting to break down on me? I'd pay you for the time, of course."

"I think we could come to an arrangement," she replied. Her own resources were still in good supply, so she knew she would cut him a good deal.

The merchant led her back toward the landing sections of the station, bringing them to one of the smaller docking ports. Out the viewport hung a Kowloon class freighter. "There she is," he said. "The MSV _Majesty_. May not be the nicest of ships to look at, but she does all I need her to." Tali looked over the freighter's lines. Pretty it wasn't, but she knew more than a few ships of the flotilla that would lose a beauty pageant to _Majesty_. "Oh, geeze, in all my blathering I didn't even ask your name."

Tali chuckled. "It's Tali'Zorah nar _Rayya_," she replied. "Just call me Tali."

"Well, Tali, my name is Willem Szilagyi. Will would be fine," he said. "Let's see about finding the bugs, shall we?"

And find bugs they did. No less than three computer subprocessors were on the verge of overheating, one of his momentum dampeners was close to failure, and a fuel line to his port engine was about to burst. Tali helped him mend them all. She gained more knowledge about human and their Alliance, locations of good places to find various deals or technology, and a good handful of credits to add to her resources. He gained a ship much more likely to reach its next destination intact.

Having to return to his schedule, Captain Willem bid her farewell at the end of the gangway, launching soon after she had returned to the station. Tali watched from the viewport as he unlatched from the station and started for the local mass relay. She wished him well as he departed.

After a brief tour of the station's wheel, mostly crew quarters, operations sections, and offices for different corporations, Tali returned to the terminal lounge. Kal was waiting for her there. "Have fun, Ma'am?"

"Enough," she replied. "You?"

"Better than that," he said. "Mitchell found some freighter jock buddies of his about to make a run across the Traverse. Got 'em to sign me on as extra security. I'll work with the guys they got, maybe later work with others once I learn all they have to teach." Tali could hear the smile he wore. "I figure Mitchell himself was different to work with, so a bunch of humans working together will be a hell of a learning experience."

"I'm glad to hear it, Kal," Tali said. Though, truth be told, there was a slight pang of sadness to it. That meant he would be returning to his pilgrimage proper, and their impromptu joint tour had come to as abrupt an end as it had been a beginning. "I'm certain you'll find what you're looking for, and return to the flotilla successful."

"Sorry to split on you so soon, Ma'am." The smile she'd heard had fallen, somewhat. He likely had a good idea what she was thinking. "If I run into you again, we'll see if I can't take another break from what I'm doing and we can give this another shot. "

"I'd like that," Tali replied. "When are you leaving? Is there anything I can do for you before then?"

"Nah, not really, Ma'am. We'll be heading out pretty soon. I'm mostly wanted to make sure I didn't out and out vanish on you." He paused a moment. "Anything I can do for you?"

"Actually… yes." Tali's head tilted slightly. "Back on that planet," she started, "when we got into a fight, you were aiming at the pirates very quickly; faster than I thought possible with that amount of accuracy. How did you do it?"

He tapped the side of his helmet. "Program the marines loaded into my envirosuit's computer. Works with whatever weapon I'm holding and puts crosshairs onto my HUD. I could shoot from the hip and be dead on accurate, if I wanted."

Tali hesitated, as if uncertain she wanted to be asking… "Could you give me a copy of that?"

Kal'Reegar paused as well. "You sure you want that, Ma'am?"

"Yes," she said with a sigh. "Kal, I've been away from the flotilla barely five solar days, and I've already been in three firefights. If I end up in another… WHEN I wind up in another I need to make sure I can get through it in one piece."

That seemed to be all the reasoning Kal needed. He brought up his omni-tool, tapped in a few commands, and moments later Tali saw the program loading up on her HUD. "Be careful, Ma'am. Takes a bit of getting used to."

Tali refrained from pulling her pistol to check the crosshairs. It wouldn't do to pull a gun in such a public place. "I will be. Thanks, Kal."

"Don't mention it, Ma'am."

Before they could lapse into silence, Tali reached up to grab Kal's shoulder. "Be well, and have safe travels. Keelah se'lai."

Kal'Reegar returned the gesture. "Keelah se'lai." With a final nod, he turned and started away.

Tali knew she would see him again. It was only a question of when.

She wound up spending another day on Athens Station following much the same routine as she'd started back on Kelith Prime. There was every chance she would have kept up that routine for a long while, had she not overheard a certain news report…

Just one word had been enough to catch her full attention: geth. The geth had been sighted beyond the Veil. Three hundred years they'd remained far from organic life.

True, part of her interest was because of her father's request… But there was another part that was simply curious. What could have possibly brought the geth that far from the exiled quarians' homeworld?

Like Kal'Reegar, it seemed that coming to the Attican Traverse had sparked her Pilgrimage into full life. While she might not know to where it would lead, she was more than ready to follow the path laid before her.

Now… to find a ship she could rent.


	7. Chapter 7

_And we're back._

_I just got to my new posting, so I took a week off from writing to I could settle in. Still working on that part, truth be told, but I wanted to get this posted. I also finished up a project with a friend of mine. Will need to do some reformatting on that to make it easier for him to post (we write in different tenses), but that should be easy to multitask. There will be much to learn as I settle in, but I hope to keep my brain working well enough to keep a regular timetable here._

_No major battles in this chapter, mostly small skirmishes, but we're still moving forward._

_**Nezahoo:**__ You might have a point there. I was considering making any writings past this story into a series of oneshots. __Path__ is a bit far to make that transition, but it'll help with other writings. Mass Effect 2 has been explored pretty thoroughly with Tali fics, so I really can't add enough to make a full story. Still, no offense taken._

_**Stikki:**__ Yeah, much as I'd love to keep Reegar in longer, they have said the Pilgrimage is done alone. And, Shepard doesn't meet him until ME2. It not for those bits of canon, I'd probably keep him in longer. I do want to write him again in a story someday, though. I like writing Adam Baldwin. As for structure; it's taken many years to figure it out. Best idea, find an author whose form you like and try to base yours on that. I'm a fan of Timothy Zahn and Michael Stackpole, though I'm not sure how close I really get to them. And again, I'm glad to hear I'm keeping Tali in character. She's a lot of fun to write as well._

_**Mr. Martin: **__Got it in one. ::Thumbs up.:: You'll see where I go with that, and I hope everyone approves._

_As we get into the meat of the game, my little alterations will start to come in. Hopefully I can explain them well enough that any skeptics are satisfied, but if anyone has questions with what I'm doing don't hesitate._

_As always, I don't own this. Bioware, if you're reading this, this is your universe. I'm just having some fun bending it for a bit._

_

* * *

  
_

Tali'Zorah slid her credchit into the fueling station, waiting for the system's computer to recognize it and start refueling her rented shuttle.

Her search had been running for two days. So far she had found little in the way of success, tracking various reports to one system of the Traverse after another. Among all the nebulous warnings and irritating offers of escort… of more than one variety… she had managed to get a few decent gems of information.

The trail had led her steadily closer to the edge of the Traverse, closer to uncharted space. The systems were known, relay locations known, but worlds barely seen save by deep space probes. Even then, she knew she was getting closer. She could feel it.

Her shuttle was refueled quickly, and she once more threw herself into space. She had just entered the system, hearing more recent reports of a geth patrol ship spotted hiding in an asteroid field. She had no desire to check the field, but there were other ways to search… and one of their quickly bore fruit. Her shuttle's limited sensors had detected a particle trail. It seemed to pass near the asteroid field and continue on further into the system. It didn't match known geth ships precisely, but it was pretty close. Close enough for her to follow it, at least.

Following a geth ship… WILLINGLY… Keelah, Tali had to have gone completely insane.

Her course took her past the system's mass relay. The ancient prothean device was like a beacon in the night, its glowing blue element zero core almost painfully bright as she passed below it. As she cleared it, she spotted her quarry: a geth patrol ship. An older one with less sophisticated sensors, it appeared, as it hadn't turned toward her shuttle. Carefully, she shadowed it, matching its emissions as well as she could with the shuttle's engines and systems. With luck, she would be seen as a mere sensor reflection.

Tali's destination was at the far edge of the system, one of the furthest worlds from the system's star. Even from orbit, she could tell just how barren the world was. Methane ice covered it from pole to pole, the shuttle's sensors showing rough terrain, powerful winds, and blinding snowstorms awaiting her below. What would possibly possess the geth to land there?

Then again, Tali herself had to be crazy to even consider landing there, so maybe the geth had the right idea? Uncharted, uninteresting, unwanted. Perfect for privacy.

Perfect for concealment.

Now she was more curious than ever to discover what the geth were up to. She took one final look where the patrol ship had landed, then set her course. Praying her small shuttle would continue to escape notice, she started down.

The moment she entered the atmosphere the shuttle started to buck. Tali kept a steady hand on the controls, fighting to keep the shuttle level. Within seconds, she was reduced to flying by instruments only. Luckily, her training on the Migrant Fleet had prepared her for such flying…

She hoped…

Tali powered up the shuttle's drive core further as she descended, the ground coming into view at scarcely fifty meters. Ice storms blinded the shuttle beyond one hundred. She could only hope that remained true for the geth as well, especially considering the mountain range she had aimed for would provide ample cover for both her and them.

The mountains came into view, Tali spotting a fine looking crevasse in which to hide the shuttle. She set the shuttle down, powering down enough to preclude immediate detection but not so much as to prevent a hasty departure. Leading her bag behind, she secured her weapons in place and moved to the airlock.

The instant she stepped outside, she was overjoyed that her envirosuit was sealed against the elements. Bitter cold? No oxygen? No problem. Before moving off, though, she brought up a basic tracking program onto her HUD, locking the shuttle's location in so she could find it quickly later. It was difficult to make a mad dash to somewhere when you had no bearings to the place.

Remembering Kal's words of caution, she decided to give the new targeting program a test run. Tali drew her pistol, aiming at the ground nearby. On her HUD a simple cross appeared. It wasn't quite where she had expected it to be, but several more test draws trained her arms and eyes. She quickly learned that the natural point of the weapon was an excellent guide. When she held the pistol steady for several moments, the program launched into a series of initial setups. Once those were complete, Tali returned her pistol to her hip and started the search.

Visibility was limited. Tali kept close to the rock face as to have some kind of reference, spotting a number of cracks and tunnels in the mountainside. She also marked their locations, in case a quick hiding place was required.

Though the storms quickly covered up any tracks, Tali had no doubts she could fine a geth patrol. Her people created them, after all. While the geth may have developed over the previous three hundred years, some aspects to their core design remained unchanged. The frequency of their power systems, for example. All she needed to do was set her omnitool to scan for it… And there: the range left something to be desired, but it was better than simple eyes.

With that to guide her, she continued into the storm. It wasn't long before she found her quarry. It was a patrol of six platforms, each armed with a pulse rifle. They seemed to be a simple check of the perimeter, ensuring there was no odd activity their compromised sensors might have missed. They were investigating what seemed to be a newly formed crack. Tali kept her distance, remained hidden, waited for them to move again, and shadowed them when they departed. Knowing she couldn't simply run up and grab one, nice as that might be, Tali waited patiently. She would have to wait for one of them to make a mistake.

Her envirosuit's integrity was tested as she spent the better part of two hours trailing the patrol. There seemed no other grand purpose to their movements, and nothing to suggest she had ever been detected. Then, sounds of scuffling ahead stopped her in her tracks. Tali heard geth communications, which were translated on her HUD. The geth were not encrypting their chatter. Lucky for her.

One of their number had fallen through a weakened part of the methane ice and into a tunnel network. Rather than risk damage to the other units, the rest of the patrol would seek another entrance and circle back. The fallen unit, damaged by the event, would be severely limited in its ability to navigate once the others had departed. It would remain where it was.

Tali watched the others leave, finding herself with a unique opportunity. She had access to a mostly intact geth. That is, if she could get to it.

She approached the edge, carefully peering over. The drop was nearly five meters, the geth powered down at the bottom. To one side she saw a slope which, while steep, she might be able to slide down. With some luck. It was her only way to beat the geth patrol. With one last prayer to Keelah, she went for it.

The gamble paid off. Tali landed hard, but intact, on the cavern floor. The damaged geth remained inactive as she approached, Tali inputting commands into her omnitool. She knew this next part would likely take more luck than the descent… In one swift motion, Tali connected her omnitool to the geth's computer systems and initiated a disable command. As she expected, the geth's onboard computer started to erase its data. She fought against it, trying to save whatever small cache of data she could. "Come on, you bosh'tet…"

She managed to save something from the geth's audio bank. Curiosity once more getting the better of her, she brought the file up on her omnitool. A voice, male turian, spoke. "Eden Prime was a major victory! The beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the conduit."

That was the voice of Saren Arterius. He was known to the quarian people. A Spectre, one of the best. Eden Prime… Wasn't that a human colony? Before she could ponder further, however, another voice spoke. "And one step closer to the return of the Reapers." She did not know who the woman speaking was, but she knew that whatever they spoke up was bad.

Tali had just stumbled onto something huge. She just knew it.

Sounds of movement came from a nearby tunnel, flashes of light preceding the coming patrol. She would have to examine the information more fully later. Tali went over to the remaining hulk of the disabled geth, removing whatever looked interesting in a five second sweep that would fit into her envirosuit's pockets. Disabling the geth would already alert the others to her presence, so the tampering would not to any more damage. It couldn't be helped.

Tali chose another tunnel and started for it. In one hand she drew her pistol. The other she pointed straight out, her omnitool's flashlight activating. She was flying blind once more, praying she would remain ahead of the geth and make it back to the shuttle.

Through some manner of luck, she managed to return to what she thought was ground level. Smaller holes connected to the network, allowing sunlight to illuminate the tunnel. Tali killed her flashlight, remaining in the shadows until she found a way out.

More noise ahead of her brought her to a stop. These were voices: deep, male. Krogan?

"Those cans sure the guy is still in here?" one asked. "No one's dumb enough to stick around here long. Gotta know we're onto 'em."

"Haven't seen another ship leave yet," the other replied.

"Never saw 'em LAND," the first krogan retorted. "Scanners are damn near useless on this iceball."

"Right, but we keep looking until the boss tells us to stop." Tali heard him shove his partner into the tunnel wall. "Got it?"

"Yeah, I got it."

Tali heard the chirp of a communication device. Another man, this one turian, spoke to the krogan. "Listen sharp, whoever's down there swiped a data module from one of the geth. We're going to activate its locator beacon."

Locator beacon? Since when did the geth have locator beacons? Realizing she had not had time to check the different pieces of geth technology closely enough, she quickly pulled the data module from her pocket. Before she could do anything else, one light started pulsing red and the module itself started beeping.

"Hey!" she heard from one krogan. "Over there!"

Time to run.

She broke into a full sprint, hurling the module full force at one krogan's head. It simply bounced off his helmet. Both krogan pulled shotguns, but only hit the ice wall behind her.

Now Tali ran at an insane pace, just trying to find any exit onto the surface. Somehow, thank Keelah, she did not run into a dead end or another patrol. She burst out of the tunnel network, falling face first in the snow.

The methane ice was, to that point, the most beautiful thing she had yet seen in her life.

Tali checked the rudimentary map she had made, getting on track to return to the shuttle. She remained close to the rock face, throwing away that tech she had grabbed. One piece had already proven dangerous. There was no time to check the rest.

The geth and their unlikely allies were on to her, though. They were combing the area to find her. With the ice storm growing worse, her envirosuit's scanners were virtually jammed. It was unsurprising when she rounded a corner to see several geth with weapons being aimed. Tali heard the telltale sounds of geth communication, likely reporting her identity and location. She couldn't stop that, but she could stop them.

Tali dropped behind cover, geth pulse rifle fire passing barely over her head. She could see the geth through a small gap in the boulders. The time had come for a little field test. Keeping her eyes locked in the gap, she brought her pistol up over cover. The new crosshairs landed on the geth's head. She pulled the trigger, and the geth's head was blown apart.

The remaining pair shifted their fire, managing to keep her pistol below cover. Not seeing a gap large enough to fire through, she switched to her alternate plan. Reaching into another pocket, Tali pulled out one of the tech proximity mines. Bringing it to her omnitool, she encoded the mine to emit a sabotage pulse. She waited for a break in the geth fire and threw the mine.

The mine was right on target, detonating between the two remaining geth. Both pulse rifles hissed loudly as they tried to dissipate the sudden massive burst of heat. Tali reacted instantly, standing from cover and allowing the crosshairs to be her guide. As she dismantled the geth more and more with each shot, a part of Tali started to understand why people like Kal'Reegar had joined the marines. While she couldn't imagine doing this to another living being, tearing apart the geth after all they had done to her people felt like… justified vengeance.

On second thought… maybe this wasn't such a good thing to be feeling?

She put a final round through each geth's head, their bodies joining the growing pile of scrap in the snow.

Her shuttle was mercifully close, and she made the remaining distance without difficulty. Either the geth had not found her shuttle, or they wanted her to get away. Tali boarded, made sure the shuttle was clear, and launched.

There was now every chance she was being tracked. Tali did not know where might be safe. Even the Migrant Fleet was not an option, as she would not risk their safety with the unknown after her.

What she needed was somewhere to hide… Somewhere she could lose her pursuers, if there were any.

Large, well populated, many options of places to run to. Where better to go than the famed Citadel?

She'd always wanted to go. Now, for better or worse, she had a reason.


	8. Chapter 8

_I delayed posting by a day, but it was for good purpose. Today's update will be a two-chapter posting._

_I hit my usual word amount before I'd gotten to where I wanted to be to post this chapter. Rather than have one freakishly long chapter, I split it in two so I could expand on both parts. (Even added on to the start of the next chapter to continue the conflict.)_

_Still no major battles yet, but we're drawing closer._

_I invented a word for this chapter. I'm sure you'll see what it is and what it's for. If I learn a word already exists for it, though, I'll alter accordingly._

_I'll save the comment responses for the start of chapter nine, which will be posted shortly._

_Standard disclaimer: Bioware owns Mass Effect. I'm just fleshing out a small part of the universe._

_

* * *

_

The many relay jumps needed to make the trip allowed Tali all the time she needed to finalize her preparations.

The shuttle she had rented had a surprisingly sophisticated navigational VI system capable of returning the shuttle to Athens Station from almost anywhere, so long as the shuttle knew where it was and what path to follow. The only problem was that it was essentially a straight shot. Much as the shuttle might provide a useful distraction, she really didn't want to send her pursuers straight at a station filled with decently good people.

So, she modified the program, allowing for additional waypoints. There were a few places she could send the shuttle to help throw off any pursuers, and thankfully the lengthened trip was within the shuttle's range. She'd launch the shuttle on its way after landing.

Tali prepared for the final jump, the local mass relay repositioning to send her to the Widow System, within the Serpent Nebula. As its twin rings started spinning even faster and the glowing blue core grew brighter, Tali brought the shuttle into the entry corridor, having already transmitted the shuttle's mass to the relay's computer. She approached, coming alongside the relay…

And the shuttle was suddenly zipping along at unthinkable speeds, a blue haze the only indication of her movement.

Just as quickly as she had started the journey, she snapped back to sublight speeds, engulfed in the Serpent Nebula. Tali fired up the shuttle's thrusters, moving away from the relay and further in, closer to the star named Widow.

There were a few flashes of light as Tali neared the nebula's inner edge, where Widow's solar wind had pushed the nebula's gasses out to form a pocket of clear space. She finally broke through the boundary, the flash of light almost blinding until the shuttle's canopy caught up and darkened. Tali's own eyes adjusted as well, and just in time.

In the distance, dark against the starlit nebula beyond, lay the Citadel.

Tali had heard of the Citadel. Other quarians had told stories from their Pilgrimages of the station and their experiences, and Tali had seen images taken during their visits. She had known the Citadel to be a triumph of engineering, a goal to strive for.

That hadn't prepared her for what she then saw…

At its heart was the ring of the Presidium, housing diplomats from many species residing in Citadel space. Stretching a kilometer above it was the spindly Citadel Tower, where matters of galactic politics were discussed. Reaching out from the Presidium were five massive arms; the Wards. The outward facing sides were armor, the arms able to close in to turn the Citadel into an impenetrable shell. Each inward side was covered in lights. All five Wards were, essentially, massive cities. Millions of beings from all over Council space lived and worked there, bringing life to the Citadel.

And the station was an absolute wonder to behold.

Once recovered from her mental shellshock, Tali hailed Citadel Control. They directed her to a landing bay on one of the Ward arms. As she came in, she gave one last look to the shuttle's aft sensors. Tali had kept an eye on them for the entire trip, but had no seen signs of pursuers. That gave her no comfort; she KNEW there had to be someone after her. There had been no tracking device she could find in the shuttle, but she still knew it.

The landing bay was much as she would expect for various stations, essentially a large box with craft of various sizes, origins, and types littering the space. Tali set the shuttle down, quickly gathering her belongings and preparing to leave. First, though, she got permission for the shuttle to depart and programmed the exact course the shuttle was to follow. It could navigate, yes, but its VI was unable to react to outside stimuli. Setting the shuttle to depart thirty seconds after the hatch shut, Tali grabbed her bad and exited, giving the shuttle one last thanks and wishing it well on its travel home.

Near the landing bay was a row of public transports, slender craft large enough for four. Tali approached one, its two part door opening up and out to allow her access. She had seen transports like these on other stations and worlds. Unlike the majority, however, this one seemed preprogrammed to take her to a specific place; one of the Citadel's customs stations. Tali confirmed the destination. The transport closed up and lifted off.

The view from inside the Citadel was no less dramatic than the view from outside. Light flared, muted, and vanished as Widow was exposed, obscured by the Serpent Nebula, or blocked by the Wards. It played over the surfaces below her, almost giving the station a pulse. Lights of transports stretched long, thin lines over the Wards, giving the station a bloodstream.

The transport pulled out of the travel lane, diving into the structure of the Ward and coming to land in another short row. Tali exited, shoulder bag held tightly. A number of beings stood on the platform of many races, though a number were congregated around a desk. Most of the platform was dark, with a few business advertisements on the walls. The far wall had orange, curved lights that drew the eyes into a single door bracketed in blue. Above the door was written 'ZAKERA WARD'.

Tali approached the desk, and was waved forward by the C-Sec uniformed turian. For a brief moment, Tali's mind flashed to the world she had just left. One of the men after her had been turian… But no, he couldn't be involved! He was C-Sec! As she approached, he spoke. "Identification, please." He wasn't exactly rude, but he did seem… pressed. Either he was extremely busy, or he suddenly felt that his day was about to become much longer.

Yeah… She was back in familiar territory. Back to those who knew her people… or thought they did… Tali locked her voice into her pleasant diplomat tone and handed her IdentCard to him. "Of course."

The officer ran it through the scanner, tapping on a nearby console. "Please state your purpose on the Citadel… No… Wait… 'Pilgrimage', right?"

"Yes," Tali replied, "that's right."

He nodded, punching in a few more commands. "I can issue you a temporary visa, but you'll need to speak with one of our officers before continuing onto the station. Recent events have forced us to tighten our security."

"Recent events?" Tali suddenly had an even sicker feeling about what she had discovered. "What do you mean?"

The turian actually paused for a moment, seeming to regard her as another confused sentient rather than 'just another quarian'. "I should let the others explain…" He gestured to the door beside him. "If you'll please pass through, the officer at the end of the hall will direct you further."

"Of course…" Tali nodded. "Thank you." Checking her bag was still in place, she passed through the door into the local office of Citadel Security.

The hall was all different shades of gray metal, a few white lights along the floor and several blue along the ceiling, a C-Sec sign along the wall near the next door. Windows along the other wall showed a hall giving access to several interrogation rooms. A single security officer stood at the far end. He directed her into the office beyond, with workstations to her right, a dispatch desk to her left, and the rest of the Ward beyond.

Tali was led to one of the interrogation rooms. This one seemed to be geared toward those they expected cooperation from. There was a table at center, a chair on each side. A single spotlight lit the center of the room. The far side had a two-way mirror. Tali took one seat, and was not waiting long for the door to open again and her interviewers, and asari and a turian, to arrive. "Hello, Miss," the asari said. "We're sorry for the inconvenience, but we need to ask you a few questions." She was sounding quite pleasant. The turian even managed to not look foreboding.

"Sure," Tali replied. "What would you like to know?"

The chat went on for nearly two hours. Most of it was kept civil, but the turian had thrown out a number of very pointed questions as to her full purpose for visiting. What exactly she would do. He came very close to insinuating every stereotypical expectation the other races had of her people. The asari managed to calm the situation down, though. On the whole, Tali could have imagined worse.

In the end, her goal was attained. Tali was allowed access to the Citadel, with the standard disclaimer that she was to follow all local laws and instructions from C-Sec personnel. As if she had expected otherwise?

At long last, she stepped from the C-Sec office and into Zakera Ward proper. This part of the Ward was a multi-tiered shopping complex with everything from food, to weapons, to used starships for sale. Several Avina VI access points, holograms modeled after an asari programmer, guided visitors to their destinations, or gave them general information about the station. The windows beyond showed a spectacular view up along the Ward arm to the Presidium, nebula, and Widow.

And, almost amusingly, the wording on the ledge across from Tali seemed to sense what being was looking to read it. After a moment, its text switched to the familiar quarian language. 'WARNING: Centrifugal pseudogravity in use on the Citadel. Dropped objects and persons jumping will fall towards the windows.' Tali wasn't curious enough to try it.

As she walked up along the hall, she found herself calming further. Even if she was being tracked, it would be difficult to find her there. She'd been held up in customs for over two hours. If they had gotten straight through, they would likely have gone to other parts of the station to try and locate her.

Tali did remain aware of her surroundings, though. Looking into shops doubled as scanning the crowd. Checking a data terminal doubled as checking for people focused on her movements. In all cases, she seemed clear.

But as she stepped out of Saronis Applications, the sight of two krogan made her stop in her tracks.

No… No, it had to have been like before, when she'd hesitated at the sight of the turian C-Sec officer. There were other krogan on the station… or at least she guessed so… She looked again, determined to see something to show that the krogan were not a theat… and that's when she saw the primitive datapad one krogan held. It had an image on it… Her.

So much for that theory.

And worse; as she was looking at them, one of them looked right at her.

S'ren!

Tali didn't wait for their reaction. She turned and ran, weaving through the crowd as best as she could. She couldn't see them, couldn't hear them, but knew they would be hot on her heels.

One moment. She'd relaxed her guard for one moment and there was every chance it would be the last mistake she ever made. Tali stole one glance over her shoulder. The krogan were still after her, and they were making their way through the crowd much more effectively than she. She needed to change her tactics.

There was an alleyway up ahead. She fought her way to it, diving into the open air as soon as she could see it. Tali rolled back to her feet and kept running, not stopping to see if she was still being pursued.

Tali had known little about the Wards themselves. She knew nothing about the alleys. She'd managed to get a map of the station, but the best she could do was try to navigate back to the central commerce areas. When the first shots came from behind her, bullets pinging off the bulkheads around her, Tali started to sprint even faster.

She ran forever, turning down one random alley after another. It was like being back in the ice caverns on that uncharted world. Once again, she prayed to Keelah that she would find a way out. Those hopes seemed to be dashed as more fire came from behind her, striking her back and knocking down the strength of her envirosuit's shields.

She rounded a corner, and in the distance could see people once again. Better yet, there were more transports nearby, open and ready for use. Tali started running again… but suddenly there was someone in her way. A turian appeared out of nowhere, slamming her into the bulkhead and firing a pistol at point blank range. The first shots took out her shields. The others found her right arm. Several were stopped or deflected by the suit's armor layer. One managed to punch through. "Ah!" Nowhere in her training had Tali learned how to take a bullet.

The turian's pistol had overheated. She had one chance. Tali forced her right arm to work, pulling out her shotgun and tossing it to her left hand. She held it out as tightly as she could and fired.

Her shot found its mark, blasting the turian's pistol apart and injuring, but not destroying, his hand. The turian howled in pain. With a yell, Tali raised the shotgun high and slammed it town onto the turian's head. Her attacker dropped like a pile of scrap, unconscious.

Tali stood there for a moment, breathing hard. Then the pain caught up to her and she involuntarily reached to her injured arm. Near as she could tell, her section seals had activated. She could only hope she found medical attention. Quickly. She carefully switched the shotgun back to her right hand, returned it to the small of her back, and started running to the transports, holding her arm as her shields mercifully recharged.

There was no more weapons fire as she jumped into the first open transport she could find, knocking aside the couple about to use it with a fast apology. Luckily, her pursuers were not so brazen as to draw attention in that public of a place. Tali fired up the transport. "Select destination."

"Presidium!"

The transport obliged, lifting off and shooting off along the Ward arm.


	9. Chapter 9

_And here we have part two of today's update._

_Biggest thing you'll see here is my change to the story's timing. I realized that the Normandy got to the Citadel, or at least our heroes got to Tali, far too fast. So, I'll be tweaking that a bit to allow the 'couple days' needed to pass between Tali's treatment and rescue. It'll become clearer as the story develops. I won't give away the details, but just remember that any questions about when stuff happens WILL be answered._

_Now to start my next hammer through the game to pull out all the important details I'll be dancing around. ::Smiles.:: This is where it gets interesting… if not more challenging._

_**A Morning Star:**__ I've never really been sure if there was a 'canon' Shepard, but I know what you meant. As I mentioned in a previous note, this story is an expansion off the oneshot "Pilgrim's Comfort". To get a glimpse of my Shepard for this story, just look there._

_**Mr. Martin:**__ Well, I could hardly call it a Tali origin story without showing her get the info, right? ::Smiles.:: I'm not sure if that really works as 'quick, careful, and lucky', but I liked the image. And we'll be seeing everyone's favorite commander soon enough._

_**Stickki: **__I've got to hand it to you, you're good at finding the major things I've missed. ::Smiles.:: Any chance you've got time to beta read? Luckily, this time I was already adding that in to chapters eight and nine, so I don't feel quite as stupid about it. And to this point, I haven't read the ME novels. I'll add 'em to the list._

_So, I'm going to take a breather from my marathon typing and get back at it tomorrow. The show shall go on!_

_Disclaimer: Bioware owns Mass Effect and all elements associated to it. I'm just having some fun._

_

* * *

_

Tali couldn't relax. She kept checking the airspace around her, looking for a ship about to blast her apart or another transport tailing her. She still saw nothing, but would not make the same mistake twice.

In truth, telling the transport to head to the Presidium had been a stalling tactic. It was the furthest away destination she could think of quickly. She knew, however, that she would find little help there. Her people's embassy had been dissolved three hundred years before when the geth rose up and drove her people into exile.

She would need other help. First, though, she would need to get clear. Tali KNEW someone was after her. This time she would prove it.

Tali worked with the transport's controls, dropping just below the transit lane and slowing just enough for the other craft to pass her overhead. She watched behind her, remaining as patient as she could… And THERE! Another transport had slowed as well, popping just above the transit lane. That was her tail. That was the craft she needed to lose.

Luckily, while her bullet taking training was lacking, her piloting training wasn't.

Tali took manual control of the transport, pulling over hard and diving towards the Ward arm. The tail followed, obviously realizing they had been discovered. She dropped low, skimming the taller buildings and seeing the other transport remain with her. "Try this, bosh'tet…" Tali dove again, this time running the transport down into the gaps BETWEEN the buildings. Her sensors were limited, but they were enough for her.

And still, the other followed.

Knowing she had to make more aggressive maneuvers, Tali dove even deeper into the Ward's structure. The buildings seemed to press in even closer as she could start spotting individual faces in the blur of the windows. She pulled a hard, nearly ninety degree turn around the corner of a building into another gap. The pursuer followed, albeit with jerky maneuvers.

Another turn, and Tali gasped as she pulled up hard. She'd nearly flown straight into a sky bridge, but instead managed to pass just above it. The other transport reacted fast enough as well, skirting just below as he continued the pursuit.

Honestly, a part of Tali hoped that C-Sec would respond. Some backup would be nice.

She accelerated, passing through another series of sky bridges before turning sharply once again. This time, though, the object she saw she could not quite clear. A brightly lit sign hung halfway into the gap. She pulled up, but clipped the sign's corner to send debris falling further down the cavern. The other transport made the turn, coming in lower as if expecting an obstruction. They hadn't expected the obstruction to be coming right at them.

Their transport was hit, knocked further down into the structure. It collided with the wall, bouncing into one of the station's power transfer nodes. Its drive systems were fried by the discharge, and the craft came to rest on a nearby ledge, far from any passage back into the station.

Satisfied they wouldn't be following her any time soon, Tali rose back above the Wards and rejoined the flow of traffic in the transit lane. Knowing the Presidium would not help her, she found a lane heading to another Ward arm, setting the transport's computer to follow it.

Why C-Sec hadn't responded, Tali did not know. She hadn't seen so much as a note pop up on her transport's navigational display telling her to slow down. Could the people chasing her have that level of access to Citadel security systems? She shuddered at the thought.

Had she not been recovering from the adrenaline and worried about her arm Tali might have been able to enjoy the transit between the Wards. The lane was perfectly positioned to carry her over an expanse of the nebula. Her attention, though, was focused on the transport's database. She needed to find aid… And the transit lane would take her close to one soon after getting to the next Ward arm. She set the destination.

She considered her options during the flight. These men had tracked her down. Losing them was likely only temporary. If Saren, and she was certain that was who they worked for, was really after her, she needed a better plan for how to escape.

Unfortunately, her knowledge of underground organization was limited to what she'd picked up over the extranet or in spaceport rumor mills. One name had come up frequently enough for her to remember, though. The Shadow Broker.

Who or what it was no one was certain, but they bought and sold information for the right price. The little gem in her omnitool might wind up being her ticket to escaping Saren's clutches. Maybe even a way back to the flotilla?

Not that she could trust him… her… them… whatever. She just didn't have much other choice.

A few minutes later, Tali had landed. She quickly programmed the transport to leave again after she exited, grabbed her bag, and climbed out. Her injury looked no worse than before… though it was bleeding slightly… Not paying attention to the rest of the hall, she turned to the nearby clinic door.

The clinic was the typical shade of antiseptic white Tali had come to expect from medical facilities. It was small, a curved partition separating the lobby area from the medibeds and diagnostic stations beyond. There was a small seating area to one side, though no one was present. A single doctor was on duty, a red haired human woman. She looked up from her computer console in the far corner, and seemed to quickly understand the problem.

The woman stood, approaching while waving her over. She also grabbed a medical scanner. "Please," she said with a curious accent, "come in, Miss."

Tali walked in, the door sliding shut behind her. She set her shoulder bag down just behind the partition, allowing the doctor to examine the injury. "Open wound," the woman said almost immediately. "Come with me. The whole clinic has a sterile field generator, but I have a stronger one for the far medibed." Tali nodded, appreciating the woman's foresight.

Once within the stronger field, the doctor started a closer examination of Tali's injury. "By the way," the woman said, "my name is Doctor Chloe Michel. You are?"

"You… might not want to ask that," Tali replied. Her voice was a bit shakier than she would have hoped.

"What happened to you?" Dr. Michel asked. "Who shot you?"

Tali shook her head. "You don't want to know." The tone of her voice made it clear; Dr. Michel was likely safer not knowing. "How bad is it?"

"You're a very lucky young woman," she replied. "It's just a graze."

"Doesn't feel like one."

Dr. Michel gave a sympathetic smile. "I know. Quarians have very sensitive skin. Here, this should help."

Moments later her arm felt cooler, the pain subsiding. Tali relaxed, releasing the breath she hadn't known she'd been holding. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." Dr. Michel continued with her medical scanner. "I don't see signs of any major infection. I can clean up what little there is." She moved out of the field, grabbing some supplies from a nearby cart. "Your envirosuit has taken damage, though. Is there any chance you have replacement parts?"

"No…" Tali looked over at her. "You know a lot about quarians, Dr. Michel. I'm surprised."

The doctor gave a light chuckle. "Well, I figured if I would be running a clinic on the Citadel I should know about as many other races as I could. You never know who might walk through that door next." She returned, running a sanitizer / regenerator over the injury. "If you're not going to tell me what happened, then is there something I can to do help?"

"Maybe," Tali replied. "Do you know anything about… the Shadow Broker."

Dr. Michel was silent for a long moment, staring at her. The san/reg was still. "The Shadow Broker?" she finally said. "You must be in some serious trouble." Tali simply nodded. The doctor sighed, resuming her work. "If the rumors are true, the Shadow Broker does have a few agents on the Citadel. I know of one; the operator of a nightclub called Chora's Den, a human named Fist. It's further along this level of the Ward, up-spin. It's a rough place… Be careful." She paused a moment, but continued. "You'll need some very good information if you're going to deal with Fist."

"I think I do. It's about the geth…" Tali stopped abruptly, realizing she'd spoken without thinking. "Umm… Sorry, I… shouldn't have said anything."

"It's all right," the doctor replied. "I won't pry." She shut down the san/reg. "Please wait here a moment." Tali did so, trying not to get any more nervous than she already was. Soon enough, Dr. Michel returned. In her hands she held… envirosuit pieces.

Tali tilted her head to match her raised eyebrow. "How do you have…?"

"Donations," Dr. Michel replied. "I've assisted other quarians before. They saw what I had to work with here. When they returned to the Migrant Fleet, a few of them sent me components from their old envirosuits." She started holding up pieces to her arm, as if finding one that would fit. The final one looked to be a good match, size wise at least.

Tali'Zorah's envirosuit was mostly a dark blue-green. The hood of her helmet was a more blue shade, with silver around her mouthpiece and on her suit's accent sashes. The replacement arm was silver, matching that of the suit's accents. It would make her more… asymmetrical, but intact was more important than aesthetics. "Thank you," Tali said. She activated the section seal at her shoulder, assisting Dr. Michel in removing the damaged pieces of her suit's arm. The sterile field removed much of the risk, though the doctor knew well enough to further sterilize both her arm and the pieces of suit.

Thankfully, most quarian suits of a particular type were modular. None enjoyed the prospect of accepting replacement parts from another suit, but none would refuse such a gift in time of need. Soon enough, her suit was intact and she was able to leave the sterile field. "Thank you again, Dr. Michel," Tali said.

They agreed on a fair price for the treatment, though Tali's appreciation for the new arm for her suit and the fact she wouldn't be dying from infection swung that discussion Dr. Michel's favor. Tali got one last bit of directional advice, bade Dr. Michel a final farewell, and left the clinic.

This time, Tali did not concern herself with the Ward, or with the view out the window. All her attention went into blending in, using all the skills she had learned from visiting one station after another with the flotilla to melt into the crowd. While she did not spot anyone who was looking for her, she did not take that as a guarantee she was in the clear.

Chora's Den turned out to be a half hour walk from the clinic, across a plaza and through to the lower level of a small marketplace. The closer she got, though, the seedier the place seemed. Finally, she approached the entrance. On the walls nearby were large images of lounging asari. The door itself was unassuming; the same style of door she had seen countless times in that part of the Citadel. As the door opened on her approach, however, any imagining of what the place would be like was blown away.

A loud, thudding bass managed to cause her reverberations WITHIN her suit. The room beyond was circular, mostly dark with an overall haze of blue. Bright pink lighting illuminated the bar and several small alcoves off to her right. Everywhere, it seemed, she could see scantily clad asari dancing for the… pleasure of the patrons.

Saying this wasn't Tali's kind of place would have been a VAST understatement.

Trying to not look disturbed by what was around her, Tali walked up to the salarian bartender closest to her. "What do you want?" he asked, somewhat curtly.

"I'm looking for Fist," she said, trying to inject some manner of toughness into her voice.

The salarian just gave a not amused chuckle as he continued cleaning the glass he held. "Lots of people are looking for Fist. Doesn't mean they find him, unless he wants them to. What'cha looking for him for?"

Tali looked to either side, leaning in closer to the bartender. "I know something he might be interested in… if he offers enough for it."

THAT the salarian listened to. "Wait here," he said, turning without waiting for her response and walking off. A few nerve wracking minutes later he returned. "Go around to the back," he said. "Bouncer will let you through."

Tali nodded, the closest she could come to thanking the man in that place, and pushed off from the bar. Making sure to hold her bag close to her side, she walked purposefully around the circular bar to a hallway leading further in. The krogan bouncer looked at her for a brief moment, but stepped aside to allow her passage.

She passed through a short hall, storage areas, before arriving in some sort of office. It had three levels, each rising above the last by two steps. She was on the bottom level. The middle had a round table with a few chairs. Top level had a desk and chair… and Fist.

As Dr. Michel had said, he was human. His flat top hair faded abruptly by his ears, and his face was heavily scarred. He smiled as she entered, which only made him look more disturbing. "Please," he said as he gestured to the table at the middle level, "come in. Have a seat, miss..?"

"My name isn't important," Tali replied. She did step up a level and take a place at the table. Fist came down from his desk, sitting across from her. "You know why I'm here."

"Yeah," he replied. "Got information to trade."

Tali nodded. "Information the Shadow Broker might find interesting, if he will arrange for safe passage off of the Citadel in such a way as I can remain… hidden."

"Good enough information and yeah, I'd say the Shadow Broker could help you." He leaned in, and Tali was suddenly glad her suit had working olfactory filters. "What's this information you've got? I could tell you now what you'd get for it."

"No," Tali replied sharply. "I'll only talk to the Shadow Broker himself."

For a moment, a very brief moment, Tali could see a twitch of a smirk on Fist's face. "Of course," he said. "Might take a bit longer to arrange that, though."

"How long?"

"Oh…" he paused as if he were considering. "A couple days, maybe?"

"Then arrange the meeting," Tali replied. "I will find somewhere to stay until then."

"Woah there," he said, reaching over the table. Thankfully, for his hand, he did not actually touch her. "If you're trying to slip out of here unnoticed, looking for a place on your own isn't the smartest move, right?"

Tali sighed. "Then what would you suggest?"

He took on body language suggesting he was trying to be reasonable. "I've got some places nearby, a few rooms I use for my more… discreet guests. You're welcome to stay there until I work up the meeting."

"Fine." Tali stood. "Show me there."

The room wasn't quite as bad as Tali would have thought. An apartment in a nearby complex, it had no windows but was comfortable enough. And, she didn't feel like she was sticking to any of the surfaces. As Fist had suggested, two days passed before she heard anything. She spent that time trying to remain relaxed; eating from the stores she'd brought with her, making sure her pistol and shotgun were clean and functional, and all in all trying to not go mad from strained nerves.

More than once, she considered either risking accessing the extranet or making a break for it and trying to escape on her own.

The message arrived just before she actually went for either option. It was simple. 1700 TOMORROW, BE HERE. Following it was a set of coordinates; another alley not far from Chora's Den.

Some part of her knew that it had to be a trap… but the rest of her knew she had to take the risk. It might be her only chance at escape.

She'd just make sure to have her tech mines ready.


	10. Chapter 10

_Another chapter down._

_First off, I'd like to give thanks to __**Stickki**__ for beta reading and giving me many suggestions on tweaks to improve this chapter. I'm now planning to go back to the start of the story and incorporate the other suggestions and things I missed, once I'm done and/or have the time._

_I'm steadily developing the rest of the story. I've got a rough plan, but I need to do a lot of fleshing out as I go. More is getting added in or modified, but I think it'll work well. Don't worry about the characters, though. They're staying as they are in the game._

_**Mr. Martin:**__ Pretty much how I'd gathered it, though I saw a larger problem. Normandy makes the trip from Eden Prime to the Citadel in about 16 hours. When they get to Dr. Michel, which may be a handful of hours later, she says that she'd treated Tali "several days before", and Tali by that point already has the recording of Saren's voce. It just doesn't work, so I tweaked it a tad._

_**Stickki:**__ At this point, you already know my comments to your comments. Thanks again for the advice. I hope to keep picking your brain as we go along._

_And (as I can't afford to let this get old), BioWare owns Mass Effect, not me. I'm just writing for a bit._

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Tali entered the alley, trying hard not to look as nervous as she felt. She had her gear, her tech mines, her omnitool, and her weapons. So far they had served her well. Still… she couldn't shake the feeling that she was diving in way over her head. She had long since gone to places her pre-Pilgrimage training couldn't have possibly prepared her for.

It was hard not to feel very alone right then…

The door slid shut behind her, leaving Tali standing at the top of a short flight of stairs. The alley opened up before her, a few cargo containers dotting the area. She spotted a keeper at work across from her. Up ahead the alley continued up another few flights of stairs, disappearing into a corner.

There were others already present. Two salarian workers stood off to one side, examining one of the containers. She had no doubts they were working with the other, standing at the room's center. He was turian, his painted white face giving him a perpetual fanged skull. All three wore armor, but only the turian seemed interested in her. As she walked down the stairs and up the alley toward them, he started toward her. "Did you bring it?" he asked. Straight to the point, as would be expected. Or at least, that's what she told herself.

Still, he didn't seem the clandestine type. Shouldn't he be a little quieter about the reason for their meeting? Maybe move them somewhere known to be safe before going into it? He was well armed, well armored… and that face paint… It stood out against the darkness far too well. This wasn't who she was expecting to find waiting for her. Her nervousness jumped to a higher level as she tried to keep her head cool. "Where's the Shadow Broker," she asked. "Where's Fist?" Tali tried to inject some measure of strength into her voice, as if that alone would keep the turian away.

It didn't succeed. In fact, the turian actually stepped to her and… ran his hand along her side from helmet to arm. Tali had to fight hard not to shudder until his touch. "They'll be here," he replied, as if trying to sooth her concerns. "Now where's the evidence?"

How had he known… She hadn't told anyone what she had, and she'd never referred to it as 'evidence'. Tali slapped his hand away. "No way," she said sharply. He worked for Saren. They ALL worked for Saren. She needed to get away. FAST. "The deal's off." She started backing off.

But Tali had no time to run. The turian looked to the salarians, who had moved to cut her off from the door. Again… How was this happening to her again? Every time she turned around, someone else was there ready slip a knife in her back, it seemed.

She wasn't the most religious of quarians, but Tali still found herself wondering if she'd angered Keelah in some way… But as they moved in, Tali forced herself into action. She had no time for self pity, and no time for subtlety.

Tali reached into her suit pocket, grabbing a tech mine and hurling it at the salarians. Its sabotage charge detonated with enough force to send the salarians reeling and gave her enough of a distraction to make it to the containers. The turian recovered quickly, pulling his assault rifle from his back and opening fire. His rounds sparked off the container and wall around her. Even worse, the salarians were about to come back into the fray, their weapons almost recovered from the mine's charge.

She pulled her shotgun from her back. She was out of options. She didn't WANT to kill them… but she didn't want to die either. Tali tried to remember Kal'Reegar's words, how defending oneself was always acceptable… She took a deep breath, getting ready to swing out and take aim…

…when more weapons fire joined the fray.

Tali stole a glance out into the alley. The turian and both salarians had turned to fire up the larger stairwell, across from where she had entered. Whoever was attacking them was good, scoring a number of well placed hits, but these… assassins… were tougher than they looked. They were taking the withering fire and dishing out plenty of their own in return.

She could help, though. With the more immediate threat, she'd been forgotten. Tali pulled out another mine, this time encoding an overload charge. "Let's see how well you fight without shields," she muttered. She leaned out from her cover, hurled the mine, and ducked back.

It did the trick, dropping the shields on all three. The new attackers quickly took them down.

Somehow… she didn't feel bad about it.

What did that say about her?

Fighting the geth was one thing. They were machines, and they had driven her people into the depths of space. Had she become so callous in the last few days as to not care about organics either? Was she becoming like THEM?

Tali heard several people moving down the stairs. Not knowing what to make of them, she remained behind cover. Her shotgun remained in her hands. One called out, a male. "We're friends," he said. "You're safe now."

Slowly, Tali stood. She did not move back into the alley. "I want to believe that," she replied. "It's hard to know who to trust, though, after being set up like that."

A single person appeared at the corner. He was human, likely the man who had been speaking to her. He wore dark gray, almost black, armor with a red in white stripe running down his left arm. Just left of center on his chest was written 'N7' in white, with a small red triangle beside it. She could see him returning his assault rifle to his back after which he held both hands out to show he was not a threat. "You can trust me. I'm going to help you. Are you all right? Were you hit in the fight?"

He entered the light, and Tali was able to see his face; able to see his light skin, blue eyes, and short dark hair. Something in that face… True, she didn't know humans well enough to fully recognize their facial expressions, but she could see kindness there. Concern. Whatever this man's motives were, he still wanted to know that she was all right. "I'm fine," Tali replied. "I appreciate the help. Things were looking a little… grim."

She wasn't entirely sure why, but she decided to take a chance with him. Maybe it was because he had just pulled her out of the fire? Maybe it was because no humans had yet tried to kill her? Maybe it was because his people seemed to actually want to give her people a chance, rather than dismiss them like the others? Whatever the reason, Tali finally stepped out from behind the container and approached him. The man waved to others up the stairwell, calling them down. "I'm glad we got here in time."

"Who are you?" she asked.

"My name is Commander John Shepard," he replied. "I'm with the Alliance military." Two others appeared behind him, each entering the light. Shepard held out a hand, gesturing to the first one, another human with darker tanned skin and dark eyes. "This is Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko. And this…"

Tali's slight gasp was involuntary, as was the several steps back she tool. Another towering krogan entered her view, and she was suddenly back in her close escapes. She fought hard, though, to regain her calm, squeezing her eyes shut and taking deep breaths until she was able to think clearly again. "I'm sorry," she said, finally looking at the group again. "The last few days have been… difficult."

"Something tells me that's an understatement," the other… Alenko… muttered.

Shepard stepped forward more, crossing some of the distance between them. "He's on our side," Shepard said. "Gave us some good backup when we went after Fist."

Tali's head tilted. "You went after Fist?"

"Yes," Shepard replied with a nod. He seemed to understand her gesture. Perhaps the head tilt really was universally known as a look of confusion? "Seemed to be the best chance we had of finding you."

"Why are you looking for me?" Tali was not all that happy about her newly found popularity…

"One of our colonies was attacked," he said. "A world named Eden Prime." Tali recognized that name immediately. She could feel her left arm give a slight twitch, a subconscious reminder of what data her omnitool held. "I know who lead the attack, a turian Spectre named Saren, but I have no proof. I heard you might have the evidence I need to convince the Council to bring him to justice."

"Then I have a chance to repay you for saving my life," Tali replied. She finally got her body into motion again, stepping towards Shepard. "Though I would prefer it were not here. It's not exactly safe."

Alenko spoke up. "How about the Ambassador's office? It should be safe there, and he'll probably want to see this, anyway."

Shepard looked over his shoulder to the other human. "Good plan, Kaidan." He looked back to her. "What do you say, miss?"

"I say it sounds like a good idea." She might have been grasping at straws, but this was the best looking one she could see. Tali crossed the final gap, joining the trio… admittedly staying furthest from the scarred krogan.

Suddenly, the door behind her opened. Tali turned immediately, her hand going to her shotgun as she saw the first figure. Another turian! "Stop!" she heard Shepard yell. The commanding bark had the desired effect, freezing in her tracks and giving the turian a second look. He was wearing C-Sec armor, and as the door opened fully she could see a human woman in white armor standing beside him. Both were holding assault rifles, and both turned those rifles upward as they saw all was clear. "Meet the rest of my team," Shepard said as they descended the stairs to join them. He gestured to each in turn, first to the human, "Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams," then to the turian, "and Garrus Vakarian." Shepard jerked his thumb over his shoulder back at the krogan. "He's Wrex." The krogan gave an amused chuckle.

"We're clear, skipper," Williams said. Shepard nodded.

Skipper? What could that possibly mean? Some kind of nickname? But… You don't make a nickname for your commander! Or at least no quarian would… Well… Not normally…

Luckily, the turian managed to break her less than helpful train of thought. "You're the one Dr. Michel helped, yes?"

Tali looked to him. "That's right. You spoke with her as well?"

"Yeah," Vakarian replied. "She…"

"…was very helpful," Shepard interrupted. "Mentioned pointing you to Fist."

She looked between the pair. There was obviously something Shepard didn't want her to hear… but there wasn't time to pry much further. So, she summed it up. "Is she all right?"

"She is," Shepard replied. His voice was genuine. Tali accepted that he was telling her the truth.

Even so, she would still ask him about what happened.

The team moved out. Williams and Alenko walked ahead, Wrex and Vakarian behind… which admittedly made Tali a little nervous. Shepard remained beside her. "What is your name?" he asked.

"Tali'Zorah nar _Rayya_," she said. She saw him pause a moment, likely running the name through his head a few times. Tali smiled, giving a light chuckle. "Just call me Tali."

They made the trek through the Ward, steadily approaching two of the station's many elevators. A trio went in each, Williams joining herself and Shepard. As the elevator lumbered into motion, it dawned on Tali where exactly they were going.

Their ambassador's office would be on the Presidium… Tali had heard about the Presidium, but had not met any quarian who had been there. It was rare for her people to be accepted there. They weren't barred, certainly, but quarians were hardly made to feel welcome.

And she was about to walk through it… Tali couldn't keep the smile from her face.

After a seemingly long wait, the door slid open. As they stepped from the elevator and into the light of the Presidium, Tali's jaw fell slightly agape.

It was stunningly beautiful. The walls were of polished metal, curving upward and drawing the eyes to the Presidium's ceiling, made to look like white clouds on blue sky. Trees dotted the area in small groves connected by pathways. A stream ran along the Presidium, graceful bridges connecting either side. Tali had not seen anything like that in all her life.

She'd have a very good story to tell when she returned…

"Tali?" Her head snapped to Shepard, who was smiling at her. "Hell of a sight, huh?" Not trusting herself to speak intelligibly, Tali simply nodded. Shepard chuckled. "Let's keep going."

As they walked along the Presidium, a number of passersby started to stare at them. Or more specifically… at Tali. Even Wrex drew less attention than she did. Alenko, who had drifted over by her, looked at a few of the bystanders before turning to look at her. He seemed to be trying to gauge her reaction. "You okay, Tali? There's a lot of folks here giving you dirty looks."

She guessed he referred to the stares… "I'm fine, Lieutenant, thank you. It's something I'm used to."

"Is it because of your race?" he asked

"Yes," Tali replied. "Other races have held a certain amount of disdain for us ever since we created the geth and were driven into exile. It's rare for us to find places where we're welcome."

"It's a shame that even the Citadel treats you like this, considering the Council's boast of unity among all races," he said. "You'd think that exile is enough of a punishment for any one race, no matter what their mistake was…"

Tali was surprised. She'd heard that before, of course, but usually from other quarians. Alenko seemed to have a good view of the political world around him. "Unfortunately, few ever take the time to try to understand. They find it easier to blame us and forget about us."

"Forget them," Alenko replied. "Anyone who chooses to remain that ignorant isn't worth worrying about."

"I cannot argue with you on that, Lieutenant." The team arrived at the station's Embassy District, heading for one of the stairwells to the ambassador offices.

The human ambassador had been given a very large office, at least a third the size of the _Rayya's_ garden plaza. Two humans waited them. Tali could make a decent guess as to which one was the ambassador. One wore a military uniform, or at least she guessed so from the bars on his shoulders, while the other one wore a suit. Both stood at the far side of the office, on a balcony giving an astounding view over the Presidium.

The suited man seemed to already know who had walked in the door. His eyes turned upward as he sighed. "You're not making my life easy, Shepard," he said, obviously displeased. "Getting into firefights in the Wards? Launching an all out assault on Chora's Den?" An all out assault? What had she missed? "Do you have any idea…" The man trailed off as he turned around, seeing the size of the group standing before him. Oddly enough, he seemed most focused on her. Maybe because she was still standing beside Shepard, who was at the head of the group. "Shepard, would you mind explaining just what you're doing?" Tali recognized that tone, too. The ambassador was containing his anger… just…

"Making your day, Ambassador," Shepard responded, seeming unfazed by the ambassador's words. He actually sounded… happy. That caught the ambassador off guard. Shepard gestured to Tali. "I've found someone who has the evidence we're looking for, something to prove Saren is working with the geth."

"Really?" His anger seemed to have been cut down, for at least the moment. He walked over to her, the uniformed man following. As he approached, Tali could see him school his features into calm. "I am Ambassador Donnel Udina," he said. "Would you mind starting at the beginning, Miss…?"

"Tali," she replied. "Tali'Zorah nar _Rayya_." Tali stepped to one side, moving so she could see the full group. To that point, they were the first group of people she'd seen in days who hadn't shot at her, but she did not yet fully trust them. She might still need to run, and she still had ready tech mines. "I left the Migrant Fleet a couple of weeks ago, starting my Pilgrimage." Several of the group immediately looked curious, Shepard's furrowing eyebrows being the greatest sign. "It's a rite of passage," she explained, "how we establish ourselves as adults."

Shepard nodded, a thoughtful expression on his features. "How does this Pilgrimage work?"

Tali drew a breath, about to reply, when Ambassador Udina spoke up. "Let's stay focused on the business at hand."

She looked to the ambassador, giving a nod. "Of course." Eyes back to Shepard, she asked, "Maybe later?" Shepard nodded. "A few days ago I started hearing reports of geth activity this side of the Perseus Veil. That got me curious. The geth hadn't approached organic controlled space since they drove my people into exile three hundred years ago. I was able to track a patrol to an uncharted world just outside the Attican Traverse. When one of the patrol became separated, I disabled it and downloaded what I could from its memory core."

The other human spoke. "I thought the geth fried their memory cores whenever they were about to be captured."

"True," Tali replied. "I wasn't able to get much, but I was able to salvage something from its audio banks." She looked to Shepard again. "When you said the name of your colony… I knew I'd heard it before." Tali's omnitool glowed bright as she input the commands.

Moments later, the message started to play. "Eden Prime was a major victory!" the voice said. "The beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the Conduit."

"That's Saren's voice!" the other human exclaimed. "This proves he was involved in the attack!"

Shepard, though, remained calm. "He said he was closer to finding the Conduit… Any idea what that is?" The fact it was Saren speaking didn't seem to bother him as much as WHAT Saren was saying… Shepard was more insightful than she would have expected of a common soldier.

Mitchell's kindness, Alenko's understanding, and now Shepard's insight… How could she have ever seen them as… animals? Tali needed to stop underestimating what the humans were capable of.

"If it was related to the beacon… It could be some form of Prothean technology," the other replied. "A weapon, maybe?"

"There's more," Tali replied. "He wasn't alone."

She continued the recording. The woman's voice spoke, "And one step closer to the return of the Reapers."

Ambassador Udina spoke first. "I don't recognize her voice…"

"Reapers…" Shepard was now scratching at his chin, brow furrowed as if searching for something. "I feel like I've heard that before…"

"There was a small amount of data tied to that file, a reference," Tali said. "That the Reapers are a hyper-advanced machine race. They existed 50,000 years ago, and hunted the Protheans to extinction. There's no proof of it, but it's what the geth believe."

Shepard was nodding by the time she finished. "That was the vision I got… I saw the Protheans being wiped out by the Reapers." Vision? What vision?

"And if Saren knows how to bring them back…" The other human shook his head. "That doesn't matter. But this DOES prove that Saren's a traitor."

"Captain Anderson is right," the ambassador replied. "We need to present this to the Council."

"What about her?" Williams asked. Tali looked at her to find she was looking right back. "The quarian?" It seemed that Williams trusted Tali much less than Tali was willing to trust Shepard's group.

"My name is Tali," she snapped before she could stop her irritation from getting the better of her. She forced herself to calm down as she turned to Shepard. "You've seen what I can do, Commander. I could help, if you'd let me come with you."

He seemed to be considering it. "But what about your Pilgrimage?"

Tali was silent for a moment. What about her Pilgrimage? What about her responsibility to her people, to complete her task and to return? In a way, that question provided her an answer. "The point behind the Pilgrimage is to show that we will give of ourselves to support the group. If Saren's goal is to bring back those who have committed galactic genocide… My people are at as much a risk as yours. As everyone's. What does it say about me if I DON'T help?"

Shepard smiled. "You win," he replied. "I'll take all the help I can get."

"Thank you," she replied. Yes, people would accept a quarian's help for technical problems, but this was much… bigger. Much more vital. And she wasn't being turned away.

Had she finally found someone who really saw her as another sentient being, not 'just another quarian'?


	11. Chapter 11

_Well, I was wondering when this might happen… This story is about to have more hits than any other I've yet written. I imagine it'll be there by the end of today, and I find that awesome. I'm glad that folks enjoy the story, and I hope everyone continues to do so._

_Once again, my thanks go to __**Stickki**__ for his assistance in finding my grammatical foibles and pointing out the important details I missed._

_**Mr. Martin:**__ Oddly enough, I was already planning on including that event. Still working the details, but the few bits I could see in my head looked pretty good._

_I'll let the new plot developments speak for themselves. On with the show!_

_Mass Effect. BioWare. Not mine. (I'm running out of ways to say this.)_

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The ambassador arranged their meeting with the Council. He and the captain departed to ensure the Council was ready to hear the evidence. That gave the team more than enough time to make their way to the Council Chamber. Once they were alone, Shepard turned to the group. "Alright, I want Kaidan, Ashley, and Tali with me. Garrus…"

The turian raised a three-fingered hand. "I'll swing by C-Sec again and see if there's anything I can dig up on recent geth activity," he replied. "If we're lucky, some of the reports Tali heard will have made it there."

"Good," Shepard said with a nod. "We'll be swinging through the C-Sec Academy lobby on the way to the _Normandy_, anyway. We'll find you there."

Garrus's mandibles opened in a smile. "I'll need to let them know I'm going with you, anyway."

The _Normandy_? Their ship was the _Normandy_? The achievement that had first caught in interest in humanity… and Tali was going to be on her?

After that many days under almost constant attack, when she'd felt she must have angered Keelah in some way, a reward presented itself.

Wrex moved toward the door, pausing when he got to Shepard. "Where's your ship docked?"

Shepard looked at him for a moment. "Port 34-Thiatic," he replied. "You're sticking around?"

"Why not?" Wrex asked. "Soon as I get paid I've got nothing keeping me here. Haven't seen a good fight in a while, and you look like you're about to head straight into one."

Shepard smirked. "Every chance. Be there in two hours." The krogan nodded, lumbering towards the door. Garrus gave a nod to the group, mimicking Wrex's gait for a few steps as he departed as well.

Tali smiled at the display, her quiet chuckle joining Alenko's. Alenko's hand had gone to the bridge of his nose as he shook his head. Williams looked over at Shepard with a cocked eyebrow. "You sure about these guys, skipper?"

"As allies?" Shepard asked. Williams nodded. "Enough to give them a chance," he replied.

Williams was strange to Tali. Almost every human she'd met had been open to other races, to trusting them as other sentient beings. Maybe she'd met only those in the supportive minority, and Williams's sentiments were more common among her race.

But Tali hoped not. There was enough distrust among the races of Citadel space as it was. There was no need for more.

"Let's get moving." Shepard led the way out the door, Tali moving up alongside him. Somehow, she felt safer there… Probably because he was the first person in a while to not shoot at her.

They soon passed through the embassy lobby, Shepard coming to a stop. "Commander?" Alenko asked.

"We've got some time to kill," he replied, pointing to the stairwell on the far side the lobby. "Want to explore a bit?" He didn't wait for a reply, instead simply starting for the stairs. Williams started after him quickly, Alenko joining her after giving a light chuckle.

Tali watched for a moment, but finally jogged to catch up.

As they moved along the corridor, the door at the far end opened. It appeared to be the entrance to a lounge of some kind. A human, dark skinned with fur on his face and wearing a tailored suit, stopped as he spotted them. His eyes widened in recognition as they approached him. "Commander Shepard, the man said, catching Shepard's attention. "May I have a moment of your time?" His voice carried an accent different from the three humans with her. She was curious as to why, but it was hardly the time to ask. She held back, allowing her companions to move closer to the man.

"Is there something I can do for you?" Shepard replied as he came to a stop.

"I hope so," the man replied. "I do apologize for my intrusion, but I feel I have no one else to turn to."

Shepard held up a hand. "There's nothing to apologize for. What's wrong?" Tali could hear a calm patience in the Shepard's voice.

"My name is Samesh Bhatia," the man said. "My wife was a marine assigned to Eden Prime, serving in the 212."

A look of recognition suddenly crossed Williams's features. "Bhatia… You're Nirali Bhatia's husband?" Samesh nodded. "I'm Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams," she continued. "We served in the same unit."

A ghost of a smile crossed Samesh's lips. "Chief Williams... Yes, Nirali mentioned you on several occasions. You had earned her trust, and her respect."

Williams stepped closer to him, taking hold of his shoulder. "Nirali was a good woman. I could always count on her to have my back when things got tough." She sighed. "I am very sorry for your loss."

"Thank you, Chief Williams." She stepped back, and Samesh continued. He suddenly sounded very… tired. "I had requested for her body to be returned home for cremation… but the military refused the request."

"What?" Williams snapped. "Why would they do that?"

Samesh shook his head. "I don't know. They simply declared the return of her body to be impossible. Every time I ask why, they tell me that it is classified."

Williams looked furious, but she kept herself in check. She turned, looking at Shepard. Shepard's eyebrows had furrowed as he shook his head. "That is bullshit," he said, speaking in a matter-of-fact fashion. "There is NO reason for the Alliance to hold her body from you. I'll look into this."

"Thank you, Commander," Samesh said. "The man I had spoken with before is a Mr. Bosker. I believe I saw him in the embassy lounge." He pointed back at the door he'd just passed through.

"Commander," Williams said, "if you don't mind, I'd like to stay here with Mr. Bhatia for a bit."

"Not a problem," Shepard replied to her. To Samesh, he said, "I'll sort this out." Shepard moved past him, walking toward the door. Tali and Alenko followed.

They found him. Bosker had been relaxing in the lounge, seeming more interested in the fact Commander Shepard was speaking with him than in doing his job. Tali was unimpressed; every member of a quarian crew had to do their job. All had to work together. If anyone focused on their own interests, set aside their responsibilities, people could die.

From what Tali could see right then, Bosker wouldn't make it on a quarian ship.

Shepard didn't seem impressed by the man, either. He remained patient, allowing him to explain why the Alliance thought it necessary to keep the woman's body. It seemed that possible new defenses against the geth weren't enough to gain Shepard's support. "I understand what you're trying to do," Shepard finally said, "but keeping Nirali's body from Samesh is wrong."

"But, Commander," the man pleaded, "you stopped the Blitz. You've put everything on the line for humanity, and you of all people should know what needs to be done to protect it!"

"Not if we lose our humanity in the process!" Tali was visibly startled by his outburst. He'd been so calm before, even after the fight in the alley. In a way, though, the shout felt right. Something about the look on his face, how his eyes had hardened when he'd heard of what his military had decided. Regardless, the shout had the intended effect. Bosker seemed to shrink against the wall. "I'm out here fighting to stop shit like this!" Shepard continued, drilling even further into the man.

Finally, Bosker held up his hands in defeat. "All right, Commander. You've made your point. I'll see to it that the body is shipped back to Earth." Tali could hear it in his voice; the man wanted Shepard gone before he got punched, so he'd do as he said.

"Good," Shepard replied, the familiar calm demeanor returning. "I'll pass the word to Samesh." Without further word, he turned to leave.

The trio soon returned to Samesh, who was still speaking with Williams. Both reminisced about Nirali, and it seemed to be improving Samesh's spirits. Hearing of Shepard's success did even more, bringing him peace as he thanked Shepard for his efforts and departed.

Shepard led the team along the Presidium, Tali's eyes once again drifting over the beautifully laid out grounds. She wished that more of her people could see it. Wished that the other races would stop seeing the quarians through three hundred year old blinders and allow them to rejoin the galactic community as something other than second class citizens…

Tali's pace had slowed. She fell behind as she thought, and stopped abruptly as she realized someone was standing before her. Tali looked up. It was Williams… She didn't look happy… "Do you know who that man was?" She didn't let her answer, stepping even closer. "Do you know what he lost?" Tali could plainly hear the woman's anger and… sadness?

"I… I don't know what to say…" Tali replied, lightly shaking her head. She'd never been singled out like that before, been the sole focus of someone's anger. Anger at her people she knew how to deal with. This… This was different.

"Do you ever think about it? About the geth, and what they've done to this galaxy?" She seemed to sense Tali's distress. It only spurred her on as her voice took on an almost menacing edge to it. "About the people who have lost their lives because the quarians wanted the easy life?"

"You think I don't?" Tali snapped back. Anger to match Williams's overrode her better judgment. She wouldn't let Williams insult her further. "The geth took everything from my people. You still have worlds you can call home. We don't. Do you think I like that the geth are threatening them?"

"That's enough!"

Both Tali and Williams looked sharply up the pathway. There Shepard stood, looking obviously displeased. He looked between the two of them.

Keelah… What if he thought she'd started this? What if he decided that she was disrupting the cohesion of his team? Disrupting his mission?

What if he told her to just go away? She had nowhere to go. No ideas, no direction, nothing for her Pilgrimage… And Saren's people would probably still be after her.

She suddenly realized just how much she needed to be on Shepard's team.

Finally, his eyes settled on Williams. His voice came firmly. "Chief, return to the _Normandy_. Cool off."

"But, sir, I…"

"That was an order, Chief." His eyes were hard, unyielding.

For a moment, it looked like Williams planned to argue further. In the end, she snapped to attention, throwing a crisp salute. "Yes, sir." She turned and started for a nearby elevator to the Wards.

Once she was well out of earshot, Shepard turned to Tali. His eyes had lost their edge. "I apologize for that, Tali. She was out of line."

"It's all right," Tali replied with a nod. "I've… never met someone who was directly affected by the geth before. Well… someone non-quarian, that is."

Shepard nodded back his understanding. "Let's hope you don't have to again." He gestured along the pathway, and they continued along the Presidium.

As they walked, she kept thinking about what she'd said, how she'd snapped back at Williams. She should have apologized for her conduct. Whatever Williams said, however she had acted, it did not justify Tali's response. At least, it didn't in her mind.

They entered the elevator at the base of the massive Citadel Tower. From what she'd seen when she'd arrived at the Citadel, the ride to its top would take some time. As the elevator started, Tali started to wonder…

Which would happen first? Their arrival at the top, or being driven to insanity by the horrible music they had chosen for the station's elevators?

Alenko, apparently hoping to fill the sudden silence, looked over to Tali. "Tali, there's something I've been curious about. About your people. If you don't mind my asking."

Tali turned to look at him. She didn't see any accusations in his eyes, any anger in his features. He had been diplomatic and kind with her, and likely just wanted to ask a question. She nodded. "Please, go ahead." She was always happy to answer questions about her people. It was good not to allow popular supposition to continue.

His question was one she had expected to hear at some point, asking about her suit and why her people needed them. He had assumed some cultural meaning, which was certainly a better idea than she'd heard before from other quarians' stories.

She spared him the details, but she mentioned the clean environment of the flotilla's ships, and how their immune systems had been weakened because of it.

"Oh," he had replied. "Then I'll try not to sneeze."

Tali couldn't help but chuckle at that. "You're very open minded, Lieutenant. Most are like what you saw on the Presidium. They prefer to rely on what they think they know, rather than just ask. It's almost surprising, actually."

"How so?" he asked.

Tali sighed. "After what happened with Chief Williams, I wasn't sure if humans would be more like you, or more like her."

"Ashley was on Eden Prime when the geth attacked," Alenko explained. "She lost her squad and was nearly killed herself before we got there. Talking with Mr. Bhatia probably brought all that back to her mind."

Tali nodded. "I… hadn't known that." She gave another soft sigh. "I'm sorry for snapping back at her. I should have…" Before she could speak further, the elevator slowed to a stop.

Alenko gave a thankful nod. "Don't worry about it. Just give some time for everything to cool down."

The elevator doors opened, allowing the trio into the Council Chamber. From the door, she could see many levels of stairs leading to the Audience Chamber, a viewport into space beyond. At the first landing was a large, multi stream fountain, and large trees lines the higher levels. It was darker than the Presidium, eyes drawn to the Council itself and whoever was speaking to them.

She heard the human ambassador's voice reverberating through the chamber, though she could not pick out the words. Shepard took the lead once more, and the trio started through the chamber of diplomats and toward the Council.

As they approached the final stairwell, Captain Anderson approached. "Come on," he said, "Udina's presenting Miss Zorah's evidence to the Council." Shepard simply nodded, starting up the stairs.

As the group reached the Petitioner's Stage, the audio file Tali had recovered played over the chamber's sound systems. As it finished, Udina spoke again. "You wanted proof," he said, "there it is."

"Just where did you find this evidence?" the turian councilmember asked.

Ambassador Udina looked to the group, seeing Tali among them. "A young quarian woman gained access to a geth datacore and was able to retrieve this file."

The turian ambassador seemed less than impressed. "So we are to trust evidence gained by a quarian, then?" Tali's eyes squinted ever so slightly. For a moment, she'd thought that the members of the Council would be a little more open minded than most people. She stood corrected. "How did she gain it? How can we be sure she does not have her own agenda?"

The asari councilor raised a hand. "I am sure we can come to an arrangement to prove the validity of the data file."

Shepard spoke up before she could. "If you want to examine the evidence, we can give you a copy." Maybe he sensed she was about to do something: talk, yell, maybe climb out to the Council and start swinging… He was right that she was about to do one of them, but she herself wasn't sure which.

"Please do, Commander," the salarian councilor replied.

"I do recognize that other voice in that recording, though," the asari councilor said. "Matriarch Benezia. She had many followers, and is herself a powerful biotic. If she truly has joined forces with Saren… she would be a formidable ally."

The turian looked to her. "Don't tell me you believe this."

She turned to look back. "Matriarch Benezia disappeared some time ago with many of her followers. This is the first news I've heard about where she might have gone. So yes, I'm inclined to believe them."

"What of the Reapers, and this Conduit?" the salarian asked. "Saren seemed to be interested in them." He ignored the glare the turian threw at him.

Shepard spoke up. "We found more information in the data core suggesting the Reapers were a machine race responsible for the destruction of the Protheans. As for the Conduit, we have nothing save its name."

"As was stated in their conversation," Anderson added, "they plan to use it to bring the Reapers back, though we don't know why."

The turian ambassador shook his head. "What you're suggesting makes no sense. Saren is working to bring back a machine race responsible for the greatest act of genocide known to galactic civilization?" He looked to the other council members. "They're grasping for any wild claim which proves their case."

"But the questions they raise cannot be ignored," the asari replied. "At the very least, Saren must answer for what has transpired."

"Assuming he can even be located to deliver those answers," the turian said dismissively.

The asari paused, turning once more to look at him. "You have not attempted to contact him already?"

Tali could see a twitch of the turian's mandibles. She guessed he hadn't meant to let that particular detail slip. He remained silent for a moment, but finally spoke. "I have. I was unable to reach him."

The asari nodded. "Then he must be located and brought before this Council."

"What if their evidence is falsified?" the turian asked.

"Then the humans will face harsh censure," she replied. "This Council is not to be tricked into action."

"He won't come in willingly," Ambassador Udina noted, "especially if he knows we brought this evidence to you." He paused a moment, waiting until he saw small nods from the asari and salarian council members. "Then he is to be tracked down?" the ambassador continued. "You will send a fleet into the Traverse?"

The salarian shook his head. "A fleet cannot track down one man."

"But it COULD stabilize the region," the ambassador countered. "It could keep the geth from attacking any more of our colonies."

"Or trigger a war with the Terminus Systems," the turian replied. "We will not be drawn into a galactic confrontation over a few human colonies, not on evidence as weak as this."

"There's another way."

The voice, calm but strong, drew all eyes. Shepard took another step forward. "I can take him down."

The turian once more shook his head, this time slashing his hand through the air to drive home his point. "No. Humanity is not yet ready for the responsibilities of joining the Spectres."

Spectres? Shepard was a Spectre candidate? That explained a lot. How else could he gain the Council's attention so quickly, speak to them himself rather than relying on the ambassador?

"You won't have to send that fleet into the Traverse," Shepard countered. Gesturing to Ambassador Udina, he continued, "and the ambassador gets his human Spectre. Everybody's happy."

The asari and salarian council members nodded. The turian… "If the evidence is discovered to be false, then it is YOU I will move to have expelled." Still, he gave his nod to the others.

Shepard was told to step forward. The Council spoke with him about the duties of the Spectres, of their responsibilities, and how they were the first and last line of defense for Citadel Space. It was a great burden for anyone to carry, but Shepard bowed. "I'm honored," he said.

He accepted his orders, to locate and apprehend Saren, with that same calm confidence Tali had come to expect from him. And with that, the meeting was adjourned.

The group gathered at the end of the Petitioner's Stage. "Congratulations, Commander," Captain Anderson said.

Ambassador Udina was already focused on the next step. "We have many preparations to make. Shepard will need a ship, crew, supplies…" He looked to the captain. "Anderson, come with me. I will need your help to set everything up."

Captain Anderson nodded, then looked back to Shepard. "You'll have access to specialized Spectre equipment now. You may want to look into that while you have some time." With that, and a final shake of Shepard's hand, he turned to join the ambassador in the trek back to the elevators.

Tali watched after them for a moment, finally looking to Shepard. "I thought that was a victory for your ambassador. He didn't even thank you."

Shepard shrugged. "Until I find Saren, I haven't done anything. Let's go."


	12. Chapter 12

_Waited a day to post, and I think it turned out better for it. Always good to get some sleep when I start feeling any kind of impatient with the language._

_There's a few alterations I want to explain, but I'll save it for the end of the chapter rather than spoil it here. Check there if you're curious._

_Once again, my thanks to __**Stickki**__. He keeps spurring me as needed and catching what I overlook._

_**Mr. Martin:**__ I debated trying to add in that dialogue, but honestly it lost a lot in the translation. I got bored just trying to write it out, let alone make it into something readable. If I get a brainstorm, I might add that scene in during a later update, but for the moment I'm gonna let it be glossed over._

_**Captain Uccisore:**__ Was wondering when someone would note that reference. ::Smiles.:: I wasn't going to let him name a weapon Vera, seeing as he didn't do it in ME2, but I WANTED him to say something. That seemed tame enough to work._

_And again…. Mass Effect = BioWare ≠Me. Any questions?_

_

* * *

_

With the meeting concluded, the team started back the way they'd come through the Council Chamber. Tali was feeling excited as she looked to the others. There she was, part of a team led by the first human Spectre, on a mission to take down what could be the greatest threat the galaxy had known.

They hadn't even left the first room, and the task before them was daunting, but Tali already felt confident of their success.

As they walked, however, a voice off to one side caught her full attention. "I know how far out that is." It was familiar… Oddly familiar… "But I know he wouldn't give up on me. I'm not asking a lot, just if any reports have come in about the _Majesty_."

Tali stopped abruptly, her head snapping over. There were two, a human and a turian. The turian was a Citadel official of some kind, and the human wore a business suit. "I'm sorry," the turian replied, "but turian warships are not very welcome in the Traverse, and Citadel warships do not go near the Terminus Systems. We don't get many reports from there that aren't available through official channels." The turian sounded sympathetic to the man's plight.

The human sighed, giving a nod. "I understand. Thank you, anyway." He turned, and Tali could see the man's face. In that moment, she knew who he was.

"Tali?" Shepard came up to her side. "Something the matter?"

But she hadn't heard him. She immediately started forward, approaching the human. "Excuse me," she started, "but did you mention the _Majesty_? The MSV _Majesty_?"

He stopped, turning to look at her. "Yes, I did," he replied. Suddenly, he looked very hopeful. "Have you heard something about her?"

Tali clenched her teeth, suddenly very glad that her helmet's faceshield obscured her face from view. She didn't want to lead him on like that, get his hopes up only to dash them. "I'm sorry," she said, "but I haven't. I did, though, meet her captain."

"You knew my brother, Willem?" the human asked. After a moment, vague recognition appeared on his face. "He mentioned you in his last message. Said you'd helped him in some repairs…"

"I did," she confirmed. "I'm Tali. Tali'Zorah nar _Rayya_. You are?"

"Garoth Szilagyi," he replied. Shepard and Alenko had joined her as he identified himself. "I take it you don't know, then."

"Know what?" she asked.

Garoth sighed. "He was crossing the Traverse, but he's… disappeared. Dropped off the grid. That suggests two things, mechanical failure, or attack…" He looked to Tali again. "Given your help, I'd say it's the latter."

Shepard spoke up. "That doesn't leave a lot of hope."

Garoth shook his head. "I'm not giving up on him. I think I know where he sent his last transmission from, but I can't find anyone to confirm it." He paused a moment. "You wouldn't happen to go into the Traverse often, would you?"

"Pretty frequently, yes," Shepard said with a nod. He left out the fact that he was a Spectre and about to head out there on a mission.

Tali looked to Shepard. "I know we have a lot to do, Shepard, but is there any chance we could…" She trailed off. Did she have the right to suggest a course of action for them? After all she was just a member of the team, not the team leader. Not to mention the fact that she was a NEW member, still proving she could be trusted.

Shepard nodded, understanding her question. "I think we can." He looked to Garoth. "If you give me a copy of those coordinates, I'll see what we can do."

"Thank you," he said, pulling a small datapad from his pocket and tapping a few controls. Tali held up her omnitool to accept the information. "If you find him… Whatever you find, please let me know."

"We will," Tali replied, now reaching up to gently grasp his arm. "Willem will be fine, Garoth. I'm certain of it."

Garoth finally managed a small smile. "I think I am, too."

Saying their farewells, the trio continued along back towards the Presidium. As they reentered the elevator, Alenko spoke. "Where did you meet Garoth's brother?"

"Athens Station," she replied. "He was arguing with an equipment dealer over a flux dampener. I overheard, realized I could help, jumped in."

"That's halfway across the Traverse from here," Alenko replied. "Sounds like you saw a lot in your Pilgrimage."

Tali shook her head. "Not really. A couple stations, a few worlds while searching for the geth. Though there was one… unplanned stop."

Before Alenko could inquire further, the elevator reached the Presidium. The trio continued on their way, making the trip into the Wards and to the lobby of C-Sec's main headquarters. Nestled between two elevators, the lobby allowed access to a number of offices to one side, training and requisitions to the other, and the large C-Sec Academy stretching up along one side. Shepard looked to the others. "Garrus said he'd meet us here," he said. "Stick around. I'm going to see if they've got any gear we could use on _Normandy_."

"Sure thing, Commander," Alenko replied.

With a final nod, Shepard turned and started for the stairs leading down another level.

Tali watched the passersby for a time. Alenko seemed to have sensed her earlier hesitation, leaving his question unanswered for the moment. People, civilian and C-Sec, went about their business or simply passed through. Before long, a familiar face appeared in the crowd; Garrus Vakarian. He approached them, mandibles splitting in a small smile. "Well, nice to see you here."

"You too, Garrus," Alenko replied. "Find anything?"

"A few reports," Garrus said, "but nothing concrete. Best was from Alliance sources, but it was mostly warnings about possible geth movement." He shrugged. "Seems they haven't tied their intel into the Citadel's yet."

Alenko shook his head. "There are some who still don't trust the other races," he said. "They tend to be the most vocal about their feelings, too."

"So we'll have to wait and see what we might learn from your captain and ambassador," Garrus replied. Alenko nodded back. "Well, at least it wasn't all classified like everything on Saren."

"You were investigating Saren?" Tali asked.

Garrus looked to her and nodded. "Yeah. Couldn't get anywhere, though. But it did get me in touch with Shepard, Alenko, and Williams, so I'm not complaining."

"We met him in Dr. Michel's clinic," Alenko continued. "There were… a few thugs trying to bully her into silence. We took them down."

The turian nodded. "From there, we learned about you. Came after Fist after recruiting Wrex."

Tali sighed. She hadn't wanted to bring anything down on Dr. Michel, especially after the kindness she'd given her… Tali would have to apologize to her the next chance she had. "Fist kept me around for a couple days after we met," Tali continued.

"Probably seeing what you were worth," Garrus replied. "From what I heard, he switched to Saren's side VERY recently. Could be that his offer for you beat what the Shadow Broker would give for a finder's fee." He shrugged. "Or at least, that's my guess."

"I'm just glad you arrived when you did," Tali said, giving a small smile from under her faceshield. "Things are looking a lot better than they did when I got here."

"Hopefully they'll stay that way." Tali turned to see Commander Shepard returning to the group.

Garrus gave an appreciative whistle. "Gotta hand it to the Spectres, they know how to outfit an agent."

All of Shepard's weapons had been replaced. Instead of the standard issue Alliance military equipment, all four weapons attached to Shepard's armor wore the black alloy casing of the Spectres. He smiled at Garrus's comment. "We'll see if it shoots as well as it looks." Shepard then looked to Tali. "Got something for you, too."

"For me?" Her head tilted in confusion. "What? Why?"

"I think I'll let it explain itself." Shepard held out a datapad, which she accepted and read. "Think that'll work for ya?"

It was information and schematics for a DYX-200 starship grade decontamination system. Typically installed in a starship's entry airlock, its specs suggested it could remove virtually any contaminant from a ground team. Wouldn't they already have one of those on board? Why would…

He seemed to sense the question in her mind. "_Normandy's_ got a couple smaller staterooms. I figured if we installed something like this in one of them it would give you a place you could actually relax. Take off the helmet, work on your suit, things like that."

With everything going on: the attack on Eden Prime, the hunt for Saren, the threat of the Reapers looming over the entire galaxy… he'd thought of her. Her well being was important enough to warrant his attention…

Tali looked up at Shepard again. "I… I don't know what to say, Commander Shepard. Thank you."

Shepard smiled. "You're welcome, Tali. I figure we all deserve a place we can stretch out, quarians included."

"What about me?" Garrus replied with a bit of a smirk.

"You can grab any rack you like," Shepard said, "It's WREX I'm worried about."

The pair chuckled, Tali simply smiling. Garrus seemed like a good person as well, given how well he tried getting along with the others. She wouldn't call him a friend yet, given how they'd barely spoken, but Tali could see he was worth giving a chance.

Shepard gestured toward the far side elevator leading to the docks, and the team departed.

Tali found herself growing ever more anxious as the elevator slowly climbed. Alenko spoke up, though this time not to her. "Garrus, there's something I'm curious about."

Garrus looked to him. "Go ahead."

"Are you sure you're you with going against Saren?" Alenko asked. "He's got to be one of the most well know turians out there. One of the most respected."

Garrus sighed. "He's either a traitor, or a madman." Tali could hear the anger in his voice. His loyalties were clear. "Taking him down will be a service. So long as he's out there, he'll be a blight on all turians."

"We'll get him, Garrus," Shepard replied. "Just make sure you keep saying that, especially if we're around other humans. Got a lot of angry people right now."

"I'll remember."

Tali's mind wandered to where they were headed. She'd heard reports about the _Normandy_ early in her Pilgrimage. There had been no images, just a blurb about how she was supposed to be a new advance in stealth technology.

Even if Shepard wanted her there, there was no way he'd actually allow her to work on the ship. It was Alliance, after all. They'd want to keep their marvel a secret for as long as possible.

Tali wondered… Just what was she supposed to do with herself?

All questions left her, though, as the doors opened.

Her eyes were met by a sleek, streamlined hull, and powerful engines mounted on pivoting wings to allow added maneuverability and stability in atmosphere. The ship was so new that her hull still gleamed in the light of Widow.

_Normandy_ was amazing… beautiful… And it seemed all the more crime that others of her race did not have the same chance she did.

Of course, if Tali could pull her weight, prove to be an asset… Her actions could pave the way for greater acceptance of her people.

Maybe that was egotistical of her to think, but it spurred her onward.

Ambassador Udina and Captain Anderson were waiting for them at the gangway. "Shepard," the ambassador started, "Fleet Command has just assigned you new orders. Captain Anderson will be stepping down as commanding officer of the _Normandy_, and she will be assigned to you."

"She's the right ship for a Spectre," the captain added. "Fast, quiet, and her crew is top notch. She'll serve you well."

Shepard looked between the pair, his eyes finally settling on Anderson. "I'm guessing there's more to it than that, sir."

Anderson sighed. "Now's not really the time for that, Commander."

"Is there ever a right time?" Shepard retorted. After a moment, Anderson gave a small nod of agreement and gestured aside. The pair moved off to the far side of the walkway. Tali moved back to the railing, looking over the _Normandy_ once more.

Someone approached the railing beside her. "I think you were telling me about your grand adventure, if you're willing to go on with it."

Tali looked over to Alenko, giving a light smile and chuckle. "I'd hardly call it grand… but if you're interested I'll tell the rest." He gestured for her to continue, giving a small smile. "I was on a ship heading into Alliance space. We had to divert off the planned route because of an accident. It turned out to be a trap. We were damaged, but managed to land on a habitable world."

His eyebrow rose quizzically. "You were a part of the crew?"

"No," she replied. "I was a passenger. There with a friend from the flotilla, in fact. When the attack happened, I did what I could to help. After the landing, once we gathered up, I went out with my friend to find parts to repair the ship. We had a couple encounters with the people who had attacked us. I'm not sure what they were, exactly, pirates or slavers. In the end, I didn't want to find out. We repaired the damage and got out of there as quickly as we could."

Alenko gave a small chuckle, nodding appreciatively. "Tackling slavers, purposefully seeking out geth, and eluding Saren's attackers at least twice… You've certainly had an interesting time since leaving the Migrant Fleet."

Tali gave a bark of laughter. "Well, when you put it that way…"

Their attention was drawn to Shepard and Anderson, who were returning to the group. As Shepard took position before his team, he spoke. "Have you been able to find any leads? Might save me some time."

"The strongest is a report from our colony on Feros," the ambassador replied. "Anomalous readings in the outskirts of the system. The Alliance is gathering forces to move in, but there are few ships in that region."

Anderson spoke next. "Past that, one of the corporate headquarters on Noveria has Matriarch Benezia listed as a high level client. Spectres can get in without too much difficulty, so you might be able to track Saren down that way."

"And, if you're looking for a long shot, there's one last possibility." Udina gave a small shrug. "Benezia has a daughter, Dr. Liara T'Soni. She's a researcher, specializes in Prothean ruins. Last report placed her in the Artemis Tau cluster."

Shepard nodded, accepting the information. "_Normandy's_ drive core is discharged, and we've got a pretty straight shot. We'll head for Feros first, see if we can help the colony."

"Good call," Anderson replied. "If the geth ARE attacking, you might even find Saren with them."

Udina crossed his arms, staring at Shepard. "Just remember, Shepard, your actions will reflect strongly on humanity now. If you do anything questionable, it's ME they will question."

"I know," Shepard replied. "I'll try not to make your life any more difficult."

"Glad to hear it." The ambassador's tone was flat, disbelieving. Then, suddenly, his voice was almost supportive. "Good hunting, Shepard." With that, he turned and departed.

The group watched after the ambassador for a moment. Anderson broke the silence. "Got any other questions, Commander?"

Shepard shook his head. "None. Pretty straightforward, now."

"Then good luck, Shepard." Anderson extended his hand. Shepard took it and shook. "Mission's yours now." Both smiled, Shepard chuckling. Perhaps that was an exchange they'd had once before?

Shepard turned to look at his team. "Let's do this." With that, he turned and walked confidently down the gangway. The others were close behind.

_Normandy's_ interior was much like her exterior; new, advanced, incredible. However, Tali found herself thinking something else along with the praise… She could see so much wasted space. Cockpit up forward, multiple watch stations along ether side of the main passage, that made sense. But there was so much open space. In her mind, Tali could see storage boxes lashed to the overhead, computer stations optimized to reduce their number, redundant systems build into an expanded hull, or simply room for more people to eat or sleep.

It was a beautiful ship, but without major modification she would never work in the Migrant Fleet.

"Come on," Shepard said to her and Garrus. "I'll give you the tour." He led the way through the top deck, named the Command Deck. A pair of curved stairwells led the way to the next level. This deck, the Crew Deck, had a small galley, sickbay with attached biolab, the commanding officer's quarters, and a number of sleeper pods up forward leading to a unisex restroom. Alenko split off from the group as they reached the landing, heading to an elevator leading further down still.

As she saw it, Tali found herself praying that whoever designed it didn't take their cues from whoever had designed the Citadel's elevator network.

Aft from the landing was a small corridor. On one side was a small crew bunkroom, allowing the crew a non-pod option for their rest. On the other were two smaller rooms, normally for higher officials or visitors. Shepard pointed to one. "I'll have the decon unit installed in that stateroom," he said. "I figure something like that should have enough power to keep the room and its head clean."

Tali looked to him with a small frown. "Head?" Last she checked that was a part of the body, not a feature in a room.

"Alliance military jargon for restroom," he replied.

"Ah," she said. Now she gave her light chuckle heralded smile. "Thank you, again, Commander."

"Don't mention it," he replied.

They made their way down the, thankfully, silent elevator to the bottom level. The trio stepped out into a cargo bay. Alenko stood by a row of lockers, storing some of his gear and pulling out a blue uniform. Williams stood nearby, wearing a similar one. Both spoke quietly. Across from them was a vehicle; six-wheeled, white with red accents hull, and a cannon on top. Garrus's eyes went wide. "What is that?"

"An M-35 Mako Infantry Fighting Vehicle," Shepard replied. "Biggest thing we could carry that can drop from a decent altitude."

"Must be pretty new," Garrus said. "Mostly I've just seen your M-29."

Shepard nodded. "The Grizzly is good when you need the extra firepower, but the Mako will get you through almost anything you'd come up against. It's not our newest, though." He gestured behind the Mako. "That would be our M-40 Thresher. She's a prototype, like _Normandy_. The original plan was for me to do a number of missions with another Spectre. I guess the Alliance brass figured it would be a good way to test out their new toy."

Garrus and Tali both looked behind the Mako. A smaller vehicle sat there. Its hull looked similar to the Mako, but shorter. Unlike the Mako, it did not have wheels, or treads, or any type of conventional propulsion for that matter. Up front was a pair of horizontally mounted anti-gravity engines. Mounted center aft was a pivoting thruster, serving double duty as lift and propulsion. This vehicle was a skimmer.

Also, while Mako's turret appeared to have a single heavy cannon and single machine gun, the Thresher was armed with a pair of machine guns.

"If you don't mind," Garrus said, "I think I'm going to get better acquainted with these two."

"Be my guest," Shepard replied. "Tali?"

Tali looked between the two vehicles one more time, then turned to Shepard. "I'd like to see the rest of the ship, if that's all right."

"Of course. We're nearly done, anyway." He rocked his head back toward one shoulder, gesturing behind him toward one of the doors heading aft. They passed through a short corridor, Tali seeing access to the _Normandy's_ armory, before passing through the final door. As they entered the room, Tali's eyes once more went wide.

The far side of the room spun slowly, her eyes drawn to the brightly glowing element zero core which powered _Normandy's_ drive systems. "Wow…"

Shepard, standing beside her, chuckled at her reaction. "You like?"

"It's amazing!" she breathed. Already she tried reconstructing it in her head, comparing it to what she'd learned back on the flotilla. "How could you fit a drive core that size into a ship this small?" She looked to him. "I think I can see why your people have been so successful. I had heard about the _Normandy_, but I could never have guessed she was so advanced."

"Until I saw her, I couldn't have guessed it myself," he replied with a smile. "Welcome to the cutting edge to us both, I suppose."

Tali looked between the massive drive core and the human beside her. "May I take a closer look?"

"Go right ahead," he said.

Tali walked to the far side of Engineering, approaching one of the main consoles. Shepard remained at her side, mostly to wave off the others and give his authorization for her being there. Tali looked over the display, filling in the details she'd guessed at before.

In the meantime, Shepard stepped over to another officer. "Adams," he started, "how are things down here?"

"Just fine, Commander," Adams replied. "We're through the majority of the shakedowns, and no new bugs have cropped up."

Shepard nodded. "Good. We'll be departing soon, heading into the Traverse. Will likely be running fast for a while. You ready?"

"Should be, sir." Shepard raised an eyebrow, and Adams continued. "We're still getting the hang of this new drive core. It's not like anything I've worked with before. The individual systems are easy, but how they all interact is taking some time."

Without thinking, Tali spoke up. "Maybe I can help?"

She immediately wished she hadn't spoken as Adams and Shepard both looked at her. She was the newcomer, the stranger. It was presumptuous of her to even suggest she might know their ship better than they did. But they didn't drill her with their eyes, as she'd feared. In fact, they seemed curious… receptive… "Tali?" Shepard asked.

Realizing she was committed, she turned away from the console. "Well… Back on the flotilla we routinely get new equipment we have to integrate into our ships. We have to anticipate any changes to our system parameters and be ready to react quickly if we're wrong." She gestured to the console. "Given how everything on the _Normandy_ is already designed to work together, I might be able to help follow the system paths."

Tali was surprised when Adams actually nodded. "If you wanna give it a shot, I'll listen in." He walked to her, punching up another display. "Let's walk through it."

They spent the better part of an hour working through one system after another as Shepard watched on. Adams was no slouch, having already learned all he could about _Normandy's_ new systems. Tali provided a fresh perspective, and new insight into possible problems to watch for. In the end, each was able to teach the other.

As they finished, Shepard spoke once more. "So, Adams, what do you think?"

Adams paused a moment, considering his response. Finally, he said, "Commander, I think if we give Miss Zorah enough time down here she'll know these engines better than I do. And, I think we should let her. She'd be a hell of an asset."

Tali was speechless. Sure, she and _Normandy's_ Chief Engineer had conversed well together, even shared some excellent knowledge, but had she really made that strong of an impression on him?

Shepard, though, simply nodded. "Sounds good to me." From the tone of his voice, it seemed he'd been thinking the same thing.

Suddenly, another voice broke in over the ship's intercom. "Commander? You might wanna get up here. There's an angry looking krogan standing on the gangway, says he's with us."

"He is," Shepard replied with a chuckle. "I'll be right there, Joker." He cut off the comm, looking back to them. "Adams, Tali, have fun." He turned and departed.

Tali joined the engineering team as they conducted the final pre-launch checkoffs. Just in time, the ship's pilot started to power up _Normandy's_ thrusters. The intercom crackled once more, Shepard's voice coming in loud and clear. "All hands, this is Commander Shepard. We've got our orders; to track down Seran and bring him in. I won't lie to you. This mission won't be easy. If it were, we wouldn't be doing it."

She could see a few of the engineers around her nodding as Shepard spoke, drawing inspiration from his words. "But we're not doing this alone," Shepard continued. "We've stood apart from the other races long enough, and do succeed we'll need to trust in ourselves and our allies." At his words, several of the crew turned to look at her. A few of the engineers were still uncertain about her, whether or not she could be trusted. Others, though, including Adams, smiled and nodded. One even tossed her a friendly salute. She chuckled and gave a small wave back. "Saren knows we'll be coming, and when we go into the Traverse he'll be ready for us. That won't matter, because we'll be ready to take whatever he and his people can dish out."

That brought on more nods, stronger nods, several utterances of "Yeah." And still, Shepard continued. "We need to make this happen, not just for humanity but for every race in Citadel space. Saren MUST be stopped. And I promise you all, we WILL stop him!"

At that, the crew broke out in cheers infection enough to pull Tali into the fold.

They were united in their mission, and none would dare question that they would succeed.

Saren wouldn't know what hit him.

* * *

_Now, for the first "this is what I was thinking" moment._

_If you ever explore the Normandy, and I mean REALLY explore her, you won't find a single bathroom on the whole ship. So, I took the liberty of adding some. I also added the bunkroom where there had been a display screen on the crew deck, along with the two smaller staterooms. Yeah, I went that old route of giving her a room to herself. ::Shrugs.:: I liked it._

_To pad out the Engineering Deck, I moved all the tech and gear acquisition stuff to a new area behind the cargo bay. Pretty much just extended those two decks to make it all fit._

_As for the Thresher… Well, I found I wanted to expand the arsenal a bit, and give more people things to do. The skimmer is the second design, but I think it's a lot better._

_That's all for notes for now. If there's still questions about what I was thinking, feel free to ask!_


	13. Chapter 13

_Well, first off, apologies for the delay in getting this posted. I had a major project for a friend of mine I needed to blitz through, which then threw off the next couple days. Work is also starting to demand more of my attention, and it'll take time for me to rebalance things. The ideas are still flowing, though, so the story continues._

_**Stickki's**__ efforts once again proved invaluable catching a couple oversights and parts where I was a little light on words._

_**Nezahoo: **__No problems, man! I took no offence at your comments. Anyone should feel free to speak their mind, in my opinion._

_**Str8Murder:**__ I actually have included a couple of the elevator conversations already. May include others as time goes on. Garrus didn't quite go that route, though, at least not in my head. We'll see what happens as the story continues._

_**Mr. Martin:**__ Took a couple tries to get to that design, but yeah, I'm looking forward to using it. I'm still figuring out all that I can do with it. Might just let Shepard decide as I go, you know?_

_And now, back to the show!_

_

* * *

_

A buzzing alarm heralded Tali's return to the waking world.

Hauling herself up from the simple platform bed, she reached up to rub her temple. "Off," she said, the ship's VI silencing the noise. The simple chugging of the new decontamination unit continued alone. It seemed to be doing the trick. Since their launch a day ago, Tali had not noticed any sickness creeping up.

The stateroom given to Tali was rather barren. Bed, dresser, mirror, a chair, access to the restroom… or head, as Shepard had put it. Tali herself could not add much to the decor. Everything she had brought with her was functional, even the shoulder bag which now lay across the chair. She was on her Pilgrimage, after all, not a pleasure cruise. The only tokens she could afford to bring were her memories.

She did not regret that necessity, exactly. It did, however, make her miss home that much more.

Still, she had an excellent source of distraction close at hand. Tali had spent most of the time since _Normandy's_ launch in Engineering, studying the drive core, engines, and just about every other system she could find a schematic for. She wanted to be helpful to the crew. The only way she could do it is if she knew how the ship worked.

Shepard had spent some time there as well. He was in command, after all, and he needed to know the ship as well as she did. If not better. He had actually joined her in studying _Normandy's_ shield systems. "I hadn't known you found ship technology this interesting, Tali," he said.

Tali gave a light chuckle to complement her smile. "It comes with being quarian," she replied. "The lives of every member of the fleet… every member of my people… depend on our ships. We repair, rebuild, modify, do whatever we have to to keep them running."

"Sounds like you have experience with jury-rigging," Shepard commented with a smile. At Tali's responding head tilt, he continued. "Human term. Means to make repairs using whatever you happen to have on hand. Force it together to make it work."

"Oh. Yes," she replied. "You're exactly right. It's hard to find original parts for three hundred year old ships, after all."

"Three hundred?" Shepard gave an appreciative nod. "Well, if you can keep the flotilla's ships running, I'd imagine the _Normandy_ shouldn't be a problem at all."

He was right. _Normandy_ was laid out in a very logical fashion. She was new, exactly as the specifications explained her. Already, Tali could look around each compartment and see where everything lined up. Any ship of the flotilla required many hours of dedicated study to get even the basics, and that didn't include knowledge of all the modifications.

Once clean and again clad in her envirosuit, Tali left the stateroom and started through the ship. A few of the crew looked at her as she moved up the short corridor to the elevator. She was still something of a curiosity on the ship; most of the crew had likely never seen a quarian before. She imagined Wrex was developing similar reactions, though she also imagined he didn't really care. He didn't seem the type.

Tali took the elevator to the lower level, then started to the corridor to Engineering. Voices drew her attention aside. "No… Optics are better, but it's just too heavy."

"Let me see what else we have."

Tali paused as the voices grew louder. Between the cargo bay and Engineering she found an alcove. Within she saw Garrus, talking with one of _Normandy's_ crew. The human was looking through a rack of weapons, assault rifles. He pulled out a blue alloy rifle and held it out to Garrus. "Here. Try this one."

Garrus accepted the weapon as it unpacked, then brought it to his shoulder. He pointed in a safe direction, looking through the assault rifle's scope. "Better," he said. "Much better."

"Make sure you're happy with it. I don't want anyone in the ground team to be distracted by the weapon they're using." The human turned as he noticed Tali. "Same goes for you, miss. Want to look through what we have?"

"I'm fine, thanks." Truthfully, her pistol and shotgun were all she needed… much as she didn't WANT to use them.

The crewman nodded. "If you change your mind, just let me know. I'm the ship's quartermaster, and Commander Shepard told me to give you full access to our armory. Anything you need, I'll get."

"Thank you again," Tali replied, nodding back. She then looked to Garrus. He was still something of a mystery to her, as was most of the rest of the crew. This seemed as good a time as any to try and rectify that. "Seeing what the options are?"

"Something like that," he replied. He looked up from the rifle, looking at her. He seemed to be debating something in his mind. "Though I don't have a lot of choice."

"Why not?" Tali's head tilted slightly. "I thought you had an assault rifle already."

"I did…" Garrus sighed. "C-Sec standard issue, and they wanted it back."

Tali recoiled slightly at that. "Wanted it back?" she asked. "Why would they…" she trailed off, not liking what he was insinuating.

Garrus's eye returned to the scope. "They gave me an option; go with Commander Shepard, or keep my job. I think you can see what I picked." She could hear the irritation in his voice, the disappointment.

"I… I'm sorry, Garrus." She hung her head slightly for him. "I can't imagine how that kind of decision must have felt."

He gave a dismissive shrug. "What's done is done. I'm not going to complain about it now."

Tali wasn't sure what to say… "Will you need another sniper rifle as well?"

"No," he replied. His voice sounded a little brighter. "That rifle I bought and modified myself. Weapon like that you need to know you can trust."

"I think I understand," Tali said. "I always felt better about a ship after I'd gotten my hands on it."

He nodded, mandibles opening in a small smile. Before he could speak, however, the ship's intercom sounded. "Ground team, report to the cockpit." It was Shepard.

"That's our cue," Garrus said. He looked to the quartermaster. "I'll stick with this one for now."

"Happy hunting," the quartermaster replied.

After waiting for Garrus to place the newly selected assault rifle into his assigned locker, the pair stepped into the elevator to make the climb up to the _Normandy's_ cockpit. They arrived to find the others already gathered around the pilot's station, looking out the _Normandy's_ limited forward viewports.

Looming ahead was the clouded, ruin strewn world of Feros. Tali wasn't sure, but small patches of the ground seemed to be glowing angry red. "Stealth systems engaged," the young, bearded pilot reported. "Bringing us in for a closer look."

"Nothing too fancy, Joker," Shepard replied, bracing against the bulkhead for a better view. "Kaidan, got anything?"

Alenko, sitting at the station to Joker's right, brought up various contact interrogation screens. "Yes, Commander. Confirmed geth sightings." That drew Tali's attention. She moved behind Alenko, looking over his shoulder at the console. It was a similar design to the craft she'd tracked a week ago. She'd copied all the information she could from that shuttle's computer to her omnitool, and had given it to Shepard soon after _Normandy_ launched. Therefore, she had nothing further to add.

"Send a message drone back through the relay," Shepard ordered. "Get word to the Alliance what's going on here."

"We're not waiting for them, are we skipper?" Williams crossed her arms. It was clear she had no desire to let the geth run free on the surface.

Tali had to admit… she shared that opinion.

"No," he replied, "but maybe it'll get them here in time to do something to help." Shepard looked away from the viewport. "Any word from the colony?"

"Nothing, Commander," Joker replied. "Either they're busy, comms are jammed, or…" No one wanted to consider the other possibility.

Shepard looked to the gathered team. "Gear up, meet in the cargo bay. I'll be there shortly."

The team was silent as they made their way down, each in his or her own thoughts. Tali tried to prepare herself for the coming battle… but it was difficult. She hadn't been in a major fight before. Even the battles she been in with Kal'Reegar could be described as skirmishes at best. She looked to the others. Alenko was impassive, as he always seemed to be. Garrus looked a little nervous, but nowhere near as she. The squint of Williams's eyes suggested she was ready, even looking forward, to the fight. Wrex was unreadable to Tali, but she had spent the least amount of time around him.

As she stood with them, though, she found herself remembering the last time she'd worked with a team; when the _Galino_ had crashed, and when she joined Kal'Reegar and the others exploring the planet surface. The stroll which turned into a running battle. As with then, the people around her were her team mates. They were her crew, and a quarian always stood with her crew.

Though at that moment, she really wished Kal'Reegar were there…

In the cargo bay, Tali walked to her assigned locker. Williams and Alenko grabbed their armor, moving off to a nearby room to change. All Tali had to work with was her envirosuit. From her locker she pulled three things. Two were her pistol and shotgun, which went at their usual places on her suit. The third was another gift from _Normandy's_ crew; a much stronger kinetic shield generator. She'd already made the necessary modifications to her suit. All she needed to do was snap the generator in place.

Shepard finally joined them, clad in the N7 decorated armor she'd seen him in before. His weapons were all in place. As he approached, the team gathered together. "Got a long range visual on the colony," he started. "Geth are attacking, and the colonists are fighting back. We're going in."

"How are we getting down, Commander?" Alenko asked. "The colony has a dock, right?"

"It does, but we're not using it," Shepard replied. "It's too easy a position for the geth to take and hold with heavy weapons. Wait for us to swing in, then cripple us. We'll land _Normandy_ later." He looked to the cargo bay door. "I've ordered Joker to bring the _Normandy_ over the colony. We'll fast-drop to the surface, secure the colony, then secure our landing zone."

The confused quarian spoke up. "Fast-drop?"

Alenko answered. "We can extend _Normandy's_ mass effect field, give a column from the cargo bay to the ground."

Tali nodded understanding. "That way, anyone who jumps will have their mass effectively cancelled out. Gravity would still affect you, so you'd land with the same velocity, but you'd land with essentially zero force."

"Exactly," Shepard replied. "Remember what Tali told us. If this is tied to Saren, we'll likely find more than just geth here; turians, krogan, maybe more. Not to say shoot first ask questions later, but be ready for anything." Tali, wanting to help as much as possible, had given Shepard detailed information on what she had encountered. He'd passed that along to the others almost immediately. "Any questions?"

There were none.

Shepard gave one last nod. "First team is me, Ashley, and Wrex. Garrus, Tali, stick with Kaidan. Find cover when you hit dirt, stick together, fight like hell." He grabbed his helmet, sliding it into place.

"Approaching drop point," Joker's voice came over the intercom. "Thirty seconds."

It was the longest thirty seconds to that point in Tali's life. She ran everything through her mind once again, everything she had learned about fighting.

It didn't take long. She knew very little… too little… Keelah, what had she been thinking? Could she actually do any good down there, or was she just going to get in the way and get herself killed? She was hardly a frontline fighter, and it was mostly luck that had gotten her out of the last times she'd fought. They were depending on her to pull her weight, to help the team and complete the mission.

She tried to force herself to calm. The crew needed her. She couldn't let them down.

The cargo bay door opened, the ground rushing below. Suddenly, the colony came into view. Parts of a wrecked freighter were strewn about the grounds, weapons fire crisscrossing the ground. _Normandy_ came to a stop above the colony. Status lights over the door switched from red to green, two marines by the door aiming their assault rifles downward to cover the descending teams. "Going down," Williams said. The first team stepped over the edge, dropping to the planet's surface below.

Alenko seemed to sense Tali's hesitation. "Don't worry, Tali," he said. "I did this on Eden Prime. It works." He gave her a confident smile. "Just try to enjoy the ride, okay?"

"I'll try," she replied, her voice a little shaky.

The light again switched from red to green, signaling the second team to go. Alenko and Garrus both pulled their helmets on, the trio moving into position. Together, they stepped out.

The air whipped at her as she fell. No weapons fire came up to meet them, however. Either the geth were too busy to attack, or someone was looking over them that day. They hit the ground, Alenko immediately leading the team to nearby cover. Tali heard _Normandy's_ engines scream as Joker pulled the ship away.

Alenko held a hand to his helmet for a moment, listening to a transmission. After a moment, he looked to them. His voice came over Tali's suit communicator. "Shepard moved left, flanking the geth. There's a group of colonists off to the right. We're going to go reinforce them."

"Right behind you, Alenko," Garrus replied, assault rifle in his hands. Tali drew her pistol and nodded.

Alenko broke from cover, pistol drawn and aimed. Garrus and Tali were close behind, both with weapons drawn. Tali kept looking for targets, crosshairs swinging across her view as she aimed her pistol. They reached the edge of the ruined freighter. A group of humans, survivors of the colony, fought from behind cover; an elevated position behind a short stone wall. A number of geth fired on them from across a dirt courtyard. "Get ready," Alenko said. He clenched his hand.

And it looked as if he were gathering dark energy within his grip.

Alenko was a biotic?

And from the looks of things, how the entire geth unit was suddenly lifted into the air, he was a powerful one at that. Garrus did not hesitate, stepping out from cover and opening fire on the geth. Tali followed, centering her crosshairs on one of the helpless synthetics.

Once again, that odd enjoyment returned. The geth hung in space like a broken doll, defenseless against the coming attack. The fear she had once felt was gone. Geth were like any other machine. Hit them right, and they fall to pieces. In enough pieces, they were no longer a threat. And with each geth that fell, her people were that much closer to returning to the homeworld.

Tali allowed that to fuel her, to keep her going when the next geth looked straight at her.

All that existed was the next target, the people beside her, and the people they were defending.

Tali opened fire.

By the time Alenko released the geth they were little more than scrap falling to the dirt. With the air clear of bullets, for the time being, the trio quickly ran to the colonists' improvised fortifications. "Thank God you're here!" Tali heard one exclaim.

"Just keep your head down, and we'll all get through this," Alenko replied. He fired up his armor's communicator. "Commander, we're with the colonists. Secure, for the moment."

"Good," Tali heard through the team's comm channel. "Get set. We're on the geth's flank now. If they fall back, it'll be right into your guns."

Alenko looked to the colonists. "We'll have another group of geth coming at us in a minute," he said. "I want a firing line along the wall, waiting for my signal." Several colonists responded immediately, but the others looked simply overwhelmed by the situation. "I know you're scared," he continued, "but we need to stand together." A pause as he looked over the colonists once more. "Or can you not stand up and defend your homes?"

The speech was short, and understandably so, but it had the intended effect. As Tali and Garrus took position along the wall, more colonists moved to join them. By the time Alenko found a place to watch from they had an effective looking defense prepared.

Organization was a wonderful thing.

Sure enough, a number of geth mobile platforms appeared at the corner, moving backwards and firing as they went. "Hold," Alenko said firmly. More geth appeared, finding positions of cover, but the cover they chose protected them from Shepard's group only.

To the colonists, they were wide open.

"Now!"

The hastily assembled group opened fire. The geth were overwhelmed, unable to respond to both attacking teams. What few returning shots the geth were able to take went wide, going over the colonists' heads or bouncing off of broken pillars. Tali did not even need to throw a tech mine. The fusillade of slugs was more than enough to devastate the synthetic bastards.

It was actually quite satisfying… and Tali couldn't help but feel scared from it. Once again, she wondered what might happen if the lack of restraint she showed the geth ever transferred to other organic races…

No. That wouldn't happen. She was better than that.

With all quiet, Shepard's team rejoined them. He removed his helmet. "Who's in charge, here?"

Another human; larger ears, heavily wrinkled forehead, darker eyes and hair, stepped forward. "I am. My name is Fai Dan."

"Commander John Shepard," he replied, "SSV _Normandy_. Here to help with your geth problem."

A woman, with dark hair and a furious expression, glared at him. "You only brought down six people? How's that supposed to help against THIS?" She gestured to the world around them.

"We're the first wave," Shepard replied. He didn't sound impressed by the woman's anger. "Once we've got a foothold here we'll bring in more people."

"You SHOULD just tell the fleet to pound everything around the colony flat," the woman said.

Shepard shook his head. "Even if there were a fleet here, I wouldn't give that order."

"No fleet?" the woman snapped. "They just sent one ship to help us!"

"Arcelia!" Fai Dan said sharply. The woman's glare shifted to him. "These people are here to help us. That's enough."

"The Alliance is mobilizing," Shepard replied. He didn't sound friendly, but he didn't sound angry at Arcelia either. "We just got here first. Would you have preferred us to wait for them?"

"No…" Arcelia sighed. "No, I wouldn't. Sorry, Commander, the attack's got me on edge." The edge was gone, the woman's rage dissipated. She suddenly seemed very… tired.

Fai Dan gave a small nod. "It's got us ALL on edge."

Shepard nodded his understanding. "The colony seems secure enough, for the moment. Kaidan, I want you and Tali to remain here. Bolster their defenses, keep any geth from entering." He looked around quickly. "I see two main entrances. One leads to the docks. My team will be going that way, and we'll be clearing out any geth we fine. I want you to set up at the other entrance, leading to the tower."

"Aye, Commander," Alenko replied. He looked to Fai Dan. "Any other ways the geth could get in?"

"Other than landing a ship here?" He shook his head. "No. They'd need to dig through rock to get here."

Alenko turned back to Shepard. "We'll hold, Commander."

Shepard smiled, clapping Alenko on the shoulder and sliding his helmet back on. "Everyone else, on me!" he ordered, turning and running for the far side entrance to the courtyard. Williams and Wrex were close behind. Garrus gave a parting nod before he followed.

Alenko looked to the group. "Okay, I want two lines. First one takes position at the door. Collapsed pillar will work for cover. Second line, grab cover around the sides, take down any geth that get out the door. Everyone else, stay well clear, but keep your heads on a swivel." He seemed to take some cues from Shepard, voice strong and confident as he spoke to the colonists. They drew strength from it. Gripped their weapons tighter, and lost some of the fear from their eyes.

Before they'd had desperate hope. Now they had a plan.

Alenko waved Tali along, starting for the doorway. A stone corridor led further into the structure, a stairwell rising to the left and out of sight. "This is a good place to defend from," he said. "We'll give support."

"Agreed," she replied.

The colonists formed up around and behind them, weapons ready. The first mobile platforms appeared from the stairs. Tali was more than ready for them. She popped up from cover long enough to hurl a tech mine down the corridor, its pulse disabling the geths' shields. All around her, human held weapons opened fire.

A steady pattern soon emerged. For one group, Tali would use her tech mines to damage or disable the geth. For another, Alenko would use his biotics to the same result. The colonists would then strike, eliminating the synthetics. Tali was strangely disconnected. All that existed was the next target, the people at her side, and the people they were defending.

It started to blur together, wave after wave of geth coming at them. The formation continued to hold, all their fire poured into a small area. Few return shots came out, but what they lost in number they made up for with strength. A rocket streaked in, stuck some of the nearby cover. Several colonists were sent flying. Tali couldn't see if they were still alive, her eyes in the sights of her pistol as.

Fire from the colonists started to slow as weapons overheated. Tali was unsure how long they'd be able to keep it up… when more slugs entered the fight. She stole a glance over her shoulder to see Shepard leading his team plus eight more marines into the fray.

Geth losses finally became too much for them to continue the fight. The few active mobile platforms pulled back. The attack was over.

The new marines took up guard positions at the door, allowing the colonists to pull back and tend the injured. A small group formed at the courtyard's center; Alenko and Tali standing with Fai Dan and Arcelia. He removed his helmet as he approached, smiling at the also unhelmeted Alenko. "I see all went well here."

"We're just grateful you came along when you did," Fai Dan said. "If not for you…"

Shepard held up a hand, stalling further comments. "I understand. Right now, we need to figure out why the geth are here."

Arcelia, seeming much more cooperative than before, spoke up. "Best we can tell, they've set up in ExoGeni Headquarters." Sensing the next question, she continued. "A ways up the skyway, one of the Prothean skyscrapers."

"There are no ship docks out that way," Fai Dan added. "Even if there were, there's so many geth out there you'd probably get shot down."

"Then we go in the old fashioned way," Shepard replied. "I'll leave some of my people here. They'll keep the geth clear of the colony."

"We appreciate that," Fai Dan said. "If the geth are off our backs, we can focus on repairs. Get power and water restored."

Shepard nodded. "If my people can help with that, too, grab a couple to help. Just remember; the more helping in repairs, the less watching the door." Fai Dan nodded understanding. Shepard looked to the group. "I ordered Mako and Thresher prepped, just in case. Should be ready to go by the time we get to the _Normandy_."

The group started back toward the dock, and toward the _Normandy_. Tali let everything run through her mind, the battle just finished and the next battle to come. She had to admit, it scared her how quickly she had joined in the fight. Little hesitation, little questioning. The most pause she'd made was to ensure she had aimed at a geth. Each pull of the trigger had brought with it a sense of… calm. The feeling that all was right in the universe as she removed platform after platform from it. Was it vengeance for her people? Was it simply an expression of her anger? Or was it something more?

Was she loosing herself to the fighting?

What would happen when it was an organic at the other end of her sights?


	14. Chapter 14

_And, after a hell of a week, actually got this chapter done on time._

_**Stickki**__, once again, find and patches my goof-ups. I'm learning a lot from working with him. (May have to do a bunch of rewriting to old chapters and old stories when I'm done here.)_

_**Mr. Martin:**__ I figured it an idea like that was good enough for Eden Prime, it was good enough for here as well. As for the character, that was the best description I could give for Fai Dan himself. (Started at ME Wiki for a while to make it.) Though I think they likely based Fai Dan off of said famous character, so… Yes! ::Smiles.::_

_**Eternal Density:**__ Always glad to hear my brain's Tali emulator is still working. ::Chuckles.:: Hopefully it remains in tune._

_And back to the show. Mass Effect = BioWare. You know the drill._

_

* * *

_

The team made their way to the level below _Normandy_. Gray stone walls stood around them, imposing. Behind them was the small elevator which had conveyed them from the walkways above. On one wall was a larger elevator connecting to tunnels leading to the sky bridges of Feros. It seemed the Protheans had used vehicles of their own. Advantageous for the new residents.

_Normandy's _cargo bay door opened, the nose of Mako appearing within. Shepard and Alenko had broken off from the group, heading into the ship to deploy the vehicles.

Shepard had been light on details… Tali was curious just how they would pull it off. Thresher was easy; it was a skimmer. Mako, though?

The answer came quickly as the Mako drove straight out of the cargo bay. It plummeted about half the distance to the dusty ground when thrusters at each corner fired up. They slowed the vehicle quickly, allowing it to touch down gently.

Thresher followed Mako out, simply powering up its engines and floating to the ground. Once the vehicles were situated, their pilots exited. The two humans rejoined the group. "Okay, from here we're pressing on to the ExoGeni headquarters building," Shepard started. He looked to the turian. "Garrus, you've been spending a fair amount of time with these two," he said, pointing his thumb back over his shoulder to the vehicles. "Think you can handle a gun turret?"

Garrus's mandibles seemed to quiver in anticipation. "Just point me at it, Shepard."

Shepard smiled. "Good. You and Kaidan take the Thresher. The rest of you, on me. We'll take the Mako." The groups split, heading to their assigned vehicles. Tali looked over her shoulder to Alenko and Garrus, watching as the two of them started forming their plans for the coming mission… the probable coming fight. The pair seemed relaxed, already willing to cooperate.

She then looked to Chief Williams… The woman remained close to Shepard, away from Tali and Wrex. Why was it so difficult for her to trust them? Had something happened to sour her toward other races? Or was just she a bigot, like so many others she had met?

But the needs of the mission came first. If the human marines were anything like those of the Migrant Fleet, she would be able to put aside her differences for the greater good. Tali would do the same… so long as Williams did.

Shepard opened up a hatch on Mako's side leading up into the vehicle. He turned to the group. "Ash, you've got weapons. Tali, take sensors. Keep an eye on the other systems, as well."

Tali's head tilted. "What systems?"

"Shields, power distribution, mass effect core," he explained. "Normally, the VI should handle it all. This is the first time taking out this particular Mako, though. No time for a full test run, so we might have to adjust it as we go."

Humans trusted VIs enough to give them access to their weapons? And Shepard as asking her to adjust it? In the middle of combat?

Maybe VIs weren't as dangerous as true AIs were, but the thought did cause her some amount of discomfort. A lot could go wrong… The geth had not been seen as dangerous at first, and all the known galaxy knew how that had ended. Quarians simply did not trust any synthetic intelligence anymore, be it artificial or virtual.

Shepard then looked to Wrex, but the krogan spoke before he could. "Just point me at a chair, Shepard." It was clear he expected to be a passenger, waiting for a fight where he could actually do something. Shepard simply nodded.

The Mako's interior was functional. Two seats in front, one with controls for driving and the other with controls to operate the Mako's turret. That put Shepard on the left and Williams on the right. Behind Shepard, facing the side, was a single station. Two benches, a short one on the left and a longer one of the right, and a few equipment lockers filled the remaining space. Tali took the station, Wrex picking a bench and taking a seat. Her suit's amplifiers managed to just pick up what he muttered. "A Tomkah could kick this can's ass…" She raised an eyebrow. Was this really the best time to suggest the vehicle they were in wouldn't stand up to the coming fight?

Shepard fired up the Mako's engine again, starting them forward. Tali could see the Thresher take up position near them as they entered the elevator to the sky bridges. After several more minutes of travel, bright light shone through the Mako's windshield as the doors parted.

Before them was a scene of wonder and horror. Billowing clouds were punctuated by towering Prothean structures connected by spindly sky bridges. Some buildings were mostly intact, while others were broken into pieces by millennia of random chance occurrences: storms, looting, even the odd meteor. Scattered groups still fought, though, lines of tracer fire cutting through the skies around them. "If the directions were right," Shepard said, "the ExoGeni headquarters should be up along this route."

Alenko's voice came over the Mako's radio. "We've got one building to pass through on the way. We'll have to watch close for ambushes."

"Agreed," Shepard replied. "Let's move out, and keep our eyes peeled." He looked slightly back over his shoulder. "Tali, if you see something, shout out."

"Yes, Commander," she said. "Will do."

The Mako gave a whining rumble as Shepard started them forward again, out into the light. Tali kept her eyes on the sensors, keeping track of the Thresher as Alenko kept behind and to the right of them. Shepard seemed focused on the objective, as he did not venture far off course to avoid any obstructions. He simply gunned the throttle and trusted the Mako's six large wheels to pull them over anything they came across.

The sky bridges were not entirely intact. One of the higher level bridges had collapsed onto the one they travelled on, forming a rough ramp. Shepard aimed for it, bringing them higher for a better view.

However, according to Tali's sensors, they weren't the only ones interested in a better view. "Multiple signals, straight ahead," Tali reported.

"I see them," Shepard replied. Once again, he gunned the throttle. He took them straight at the geth.

The Mako's sensors finally gave Tali more detailed information. Several of the geth were prime units, originally designed for large, heavy lifting operations. When the geth turned on her people, primes had been retrofitted into heavy weapons and command units. A number of more typical platforms stood around them.

Several red flares appeared… Rockets tracking straight for them. Williams set the crosshairs on her monitor at the center of the geth formation, pulling the trigger. The Mako's heavy cannon fired, shrapnel from its round tearing into the geth.

And Shepard kept driving forward.

"Umm… Skipper?" Williams started. "You think we should dodge those rockets."

"Got it covered." But he kept driving directly ahead. Tali's eyes remained on the windshield, unable to look away from the rockets speeding toward them. She grew progressively more nervous. Was Shepard crazy? Did he intent to test the Mako's shields, or something?

Then the Mako lurched… straight up.

Shepard triggered the Mako's thrusters, launching them clear of the missiles. They landed roughly, all holding on tight to keep from being thrown around the interior.

The Thresher sped past them, twin machine guns sending lines of slugs into the remaining geth. They tried to return fire, but Alenko started sliding the Thresher sideways, circle-strafing the geth as Garrus continued shooting. Williams's second cannon shot did the rest, sending several geth flying over the side of the sky bridge, falling to the surface far below.

For a moment, they all simply caught their breath. Shepard was the first to speak up. "Tali, why don't you tweak the VI's response time a tad. Dampeners should probably kick in a bit sooner."

Tali nodded. "Right… Will do, Commander."

"Commander," Alenko's voice came, "we're picking up some errant radio transmissions. Patching them through to you now."

The air filled with static, but there were intelligible words beneath it. "… two vehicles… not geth… -ake contact?" Nothing else came through.

"Think it's more survivors?" Williams asked.

Shepard nodded. "Maybe… Let's hope so. Kaidan, keep listening for more. Maybe they'll make themselves visible for us."

"Aye, Commander," Alenko replied.

Both vehicles continued ahead, slowly approaching the next building along the sky bridge. The large door responded to their arrival, slowing rising to allow them access. Inside Tali could spot a ramp taking them toward the next sky bridge, and on to ExoGeni's headquarters on Feros. As they drove, another signal came over the radio. This time, it was loud and clear. "Alliance markings! Both vehicles have Alliance markings!" The voice was male, more than likely human.

Another voice, this one female, came next. "Alliance vehicle! We're survivors of the Feros colony. Please respond."

Shepard pulled back the throttle, allowing the Mako to roll to a stop. The Thresher stopped beside them. He keyed the Mako's transmitter. "This is Commander Shepard, SSV _Normandy_. Glad to hear you."

"WE'RE glad to hear YOU," she replied. "We were starting to think no one would get here in time."

"Where are you holed up?" Shepard asked. Moments later, a marker appeared on Tali's display. She tapped several controls, moving that marker to Shepard's station. "Got it. Sit tight."

Just around the corner they spotted the secluded ramp leading down into the structure. Had they not been looking for it they might have missed it. "Kaidan," Shepard ordered over the radio, "stay up here and keep watch. We're going to head down and make contact, try and get more intel." Kaidan acknowledged the order, sliding the Thresher around to stand vanguard. Shepard released the straps holding him in. "Let's go."

The four exited the Mako, heading down the ramp. They soon found a larger room, a number of researchers and administrators standing around with several guards by the entrance. Rifles were pointed toward them, and almost immediately turned away. Two walked toward them, one male one female, both with short black hair. Their facial features were very different, however. Different… races? Was that how humans referred to that?

The male spoke first, arms crossed over his chest. "So, you're Shepard," he said, not sounding impressed. "Why are you here?"

"I'm here to remove your geth problem," Shepard replied.

The woman looked to him. "See? You worry too much." Tali wondered what conversation she had missed. "I'm Juliana Baynham," she said to Shepard, "researcher with ExoGeni." She gestured to the man. "He's Ethan Jeong, head administrator. We ARE glad you showed up. Though we were the only ones left out here."

Shepard shook his head. "There are other survivors in Zhu's Hope. The geth hit them hard, but we got the colony stabilized. If you have enough working vehicles, you might want to consider joining them."

"We don't," she replied. "Even if we did, nothing's military grade. One lucky hit, we're goners…" Juliana sighed. "We knew about the attack. We wanted to help, but…"

"We barely have enough weapons to defend ourselves," Ethan interrupted. "There was nothing we could to."

Juliana glared at Ethan for a moment, then looked back to Shepard. "If you're here about the geth, head up the sky bridge a little further. The ExoGeni headquarters is…"

"Off limits!" Ethen glared back at her. "ExoGeni will send security forces of its own to handle them."

Shepard removed his helmet, fixing Ethan with a raised eyebrow. "And your security forces have experience dealing with geth, is that it?" Ethan did not reply immediately. "Look, I don't care about your company's secrets. I've got my own mission. I want to know why the geth are here, then I want to eliminate them." Shepard leaned in closer, and Ethan seemed to shrink back ever so slightly. "If that means I go into your building to find out, so be it. If that means I go into your OFFICE to shoot the last geth in that building, I'm going in."

The intensity Tali had seen when he'd spoken with Arcelia returned. The set of his eyes changed, as did the tone of his voice. In moments like those, he no longer seemed the same man who she had met on the Citadel, no longer the calm commander looking out for others. In truth, he seemed more like the Spectres she'd heard of back on the flotilla.

"Fine…" Ethan threw up his arms in defeat. "Fine, just… don't go damaging company property." Even Tali, with her limited experience with human body language, could see Ethan trying to save face. To make it appear as if he wasn't backing down from Shepard. The ploy did not work.

As Shepard leaned back, however, the suddenly menacing set to his eyes vanished. The calm commander returned as he looked to Juliana. "What can you tell me about the geth presence there?"

"Not much, I'm afraid," she replied. "When the attack started, we were more focused on getting out of there. However…" She hesitated for a moment. "My daughter is still in there, Commander. I don't know why, but she didn't follow us out."

Ethan butted in again. "Oh, sure, she MIGHT still be in there." Tali could hear him mutter under his breath… not knowing how many pieces she might be in.

Shepard shot one look at Ethan, who immediately fell silent. He turned back to Juliana. "When I go there, I'll watch for her."

"Thank you, Commander," Juliana replied.

Shepard nodded, replacing his helmet atop his head and gesturing for the others to precede him back to the Mako.

As they walked, Shepard's voice came over her suit radio. "Opinions?" At that point, things became clear. Of course Shepard had been the only one talking. He'd counted on the team watching the others, trying to gain as much information as they could without looking like they were.

Williams replied first. "They were really shaken up over something, and I mean more than just the geth. That Jeong guy definitely got more nervous when we talked about going to ExoGeni."

"He's a bureaucrat," came Wrex's rumbling voice. "Probably just wants to make sure their dirty laundry doesn't get aired."

"Maybe," Williams said, "but right now I'm just waiting for him to try to stab us in the back."

"If that happens, it'll be AFTER we finish with the geth," Shepard noted.

"Unless he thinks the geth will take us out," Tali blurted out. For a moment, she wondered if she should have spoken. Yes, she was working the Mako's systems well enough, but she was hardly a tactics expert.

But Shepard looked over his shoulder to her and gave a nod. "Good point. He may be counting on that." She could almost see the smile under his helmet. "We'll just have to disappoint him."

They arrived at the Mako, returning to their seats within its hull. Shepard updated Alenko and Garrus, and the team started off once again.

They did not drive for long. They came to the top of the next ramp, triggered the next door, and came to an abrupt halt. "Okay… We may need a new plan," Williams said.

The next skyscraper, ExoGeni's headquarters, stood before them. Latched onto one side was a ship… a geth dropship.

"We still need to get in there," Shepard said, "and we need to take out as much of the geth presence as possible…" After a pause, he once more looked over his shoulder to Tali. "Tali, what can you tell me about that ship."

Tali pulled the turret's camera feed onto her station, zooming in for a closer look. "Geth ships I've seen since leaving the flotilla share a lot in common with what they had in their war with my people," she started. "They started as simple automated freighters. Modular designs in several sizes." Tali paid close attention to where the ship met the building. "Smaller ones, like that, could use a series of landing claws to hold onto a structure for loading and offloading cargo. At that angle, in this environment…" She finally spotted what she wanted, confirming her suppositions. "…it's using three claws to hold onto the building. It will need all three to remain attached. We destroy one, the ship falls."

"Or," Williams started, "we just call _Normandy_ in to take them out where they sit."

"Bad idea," Alenko's voice came over the radio. "Too great a chance we hit the building, wreck any intel we might find in there."

"Tali, check the last equipment locker on your side," Shepard said. She did so, seeing a number of small paper wrapped blocks. "That's Composition O, high explosive." He rattled off the specifics on its power, Tali running it through her head and comparing it to her best guess as to geth ship strength. "Think that could blow a claw off?"

After a moment, Tali nodded. "With enough of it? Yes, I think so."

"Okay," he said. "When we get there, stuff a bag full and we'll cart it along with us."

"And after we blow it off?" Williams asked. "What stops it from turning around and blasting us?"

Shepard looked over to her. "Once it's off, nothing stops _Normandy_ from taking it out."

Williams nodded. "Works for me, Skipper."

"Kaidan?"

Alenko responded, "Good here, Commander."

Shepard nodded. "Then let's get to it, people." Once more, he gunned the throttle and launched the Mako forward.

This sky bridge was much better defended than the last one. The geth had pulled battle debris together into rough barricades, opening fire the moment the Mako came in range. Slugs bounced off the Mako's kinetic shields as Shepard once more used the vehicle's thrusters to leap over the rockets. Having made the necessary adjustments to speed up the VI's response time, Tali watched as it shifted power around as needed to boost their mass effect core. Each landing was progressively more controlled as she gave its programming a few further tweaks, and Williams was able to return fire sooner each time.

In the end, though, Mako simply served as the loud, shiny distraction. While the geth's attention was focused on the Mako, the smaller Thresher had used its engines to leap to a higher level where it could swing around behind the barricades and fire from behind. The geth were unable to cope with the two front attack.

Each geth cell they encountered was taken out in a similar fashion. Sometimes it was Mako playing bait with Thresher swinging around, sometimes Shepard simply drove head long into their barricades trusting Williams to take them apart with the cannon before he got there. It was all strangely… exciting.

From where she sat, working a console to keep systems powered, Tali felt oddly disconnected from the action. It were as if it were happening to someone else, with her simply being a spectator. But then… a massive bolt of energy flashed against the kinetic shields, dropping them to half strength, and slapped Tali straight back to reality. "Fall back!" she heard Shepard yell as Mako skidded to a halt and quickly scooted behind cover. Another energy bolt hit against the ground where the Mako had been just moments before, the ground glowing blue for several seconds as the energy dissipated.

"What was that?" she head Alenko exclaim. Tali quickly brought up the turret camera feed, scanning back several seconds and pausing as the threat came into view.

Just ahead was the ExoGeni headquarters. The sky bridge came to a circle in front of the building, branching out from there to other skyscrapers. In the raised center portion of the circle was… "It's a colossus," Tali said. "I'd heard rumors of these, but nothing substantiated…"

"Well, it's more than rumor now," she heard Garrus reply.

"Tell us what you can, Tali," Shepard said.

"Right." Tali took another look over it. "It looks like it was based on our armature class units. When they were militarized, they were given a large energy weapon in their head with secondary weapons at the shoulders." She assumed they knew what the main weapon looked like already. "With armatures, standard fleet tactic is to wear down their shields with hit and run attacks."

"Okay, we'll try that here, too." Shepard looked out the windshield. "There's more cover around the circle."

Williams added, "I saw other pieces of cover on the far side."

"There's more cover on the next sky bridge up," Alenko said. "We'll take Thresher up there, draw that thing's fire when you get ready to move."

"Sounds like a plan," Shepard replied. "Get moving, Kaidan, let me know when you're ready." Mere moments passed before Alenko and Garrus were in position. Tali had already boosted the shields further and prepped the core for possible jumps. "Hold on, everyone. Kaidan, now!"

Thresher slid out from cover, peppering the colossus with fire from its twin machine guns. Almost immediately, the colossus turned to look and return fire. Thresher had more than enough time to slide out of the way.

And Mako was already in motion, Shepard driving hard for the next part of collapsed structure. Williams opened fire, throwing cannon rounds and machine gun slugs at the massive geth. It took several precious seconds for the colossus to shift its aim and return fire… by which point the Mako was already safe. "Okay, that was round one," Shepard said. "Time for round two."

They repeated the process, Thresher drawing fire while Mako scooted to the next safe area while unleashing all it had. For the second time, they skidded into cover with moments to spare. "Commander," Alenko reported, "that's not going to work a third time. The colossus is ignoring us."

"Just as it should," Shepard replied. "Part two: the jump shot. Ready, Ash?"

"Ready, sir." Tali could almost hear the feral grin on Williams's face.

Seconds later, Shepard fired up Mako's thrusters. The vehicle leapt straight up, just high enough for the cannon to clear, and Williams sent another round into the colossus. The return shot passed harmlessly overhead as the Mako dropped back behind cover.

Tali brought up Mako's sensors. "One more shot should take down its shields, Commander."

"Ready to fire," Williams reported.

Once again, Shepard sent the Mako airborne. Williams's next shot punched through the colossus's shields and struck one shoulder joint. The limb wasn't blasted free, but it was damaged.

That was all the signal Alenko needed.

With the colossus focused on Mako, Alenko and Garrus had moved into position above and behind the geth. Once the shields were gone, Alenko launched the smaller craft from the higher sky bridge, Garrus opening fire once they were in range. The slugs tore through the damaged armor, tore through the vital power and control conduits, and suddenly the colossus was left one leg shy of a full set.

Mako sped out from cover once more. That time the colossus could not keep up with them. Williams set the cannon's crosshairs on the geth's head and fired.

The colossus fell, turned into so much scrap metal.

With no other opposition, both vehicles approached the large door to the ExoGeni garage. They pulled in, taking a position at the garage's center. A thorough sweep with sensors and turret cameras showed no geth presense, so Shepard had ordered them all meet in the protected space between the vehicles. Wrex had grabbed an armored bag and filled it with blocks of Comp O and detonators before following the others out of the Mako.

As the team gathered, Shepard spoke. "We've got three missions." He counted them off on his fingers as he spoke. "Find out why the geth are on Feros, take out that dropship, eliminate all geth presence. Tali, Kaidan, you two are with me. We'll cover the first two objectives." He looked to Williams. "Ashley, take Garrus and Wrex. Start sweeping level by level."

Suddenly, Williams seemed very… nervous. "Umm… Commander? Could I talk to you for a moment?"

Shepard nodded. The two walked to the far side of the Mako, speaking quietly. They were off the normal comm channels, speaking directly to each other, quietly. Tali's suit amps, however, picked it up. She knew she shouldn't listen… but her curiosity got the better of her once again. "Commander," Williams asked, "are you sure about them?"

"Yes, Chief, I am," Shepard replied. "Is there a problem?" Even quiet, his tone suggested he already knew the answer.

"Look… I know what I said before. 'You tell me to kiss a turian, I'll ask which cheek.' But…" Williams hesitated. "Commander, I…"

When she trailed off a second time, Shepard spoke. "Chief, this isn't the time. I need to you stay focused on the mission. We'll talk on the _Normandy_. Understood?"

Williams gave a sigh. She didn't seem distressed. More… angry. "Aye, Commander." With that, she turned and started back for the group, Tali quickly looking to the others before Williams noticed her. She did not stop when she reached the group. "Wrex, Vakarian, let's go." Williams pulled her assault rifle from over her shoulder.

Wrex shrugged, handed the bag off to Alenko, and followed. Garrus looked to the others for a moment, but soon followed. Alenko and Tali watched after them. "What was that about?" Alenko asked.

"Something for later," Shepard replied. "Let's get moving. We've got a ship to knock loose."


	15. Chapter 15

_Hello again, folks. Sorry for the delay in getting this posted. Between family and work my brain was pretty well fried the last two weeks. No telling what happens from here, but regardless the story continues._

_Now, I KNOW there'll be questions about where I'm going with this, so I'll just explain my thought process. (End of chapter, of course.) Read if you'd like._

_**Stickki**__ once again caught some oversights and pointed out places that needed a bit more clarification, so my thanks to him as always. (Truth be told, we got through round one of the beta, but I got a little overanxious to wait for round two. If something got missed, it's my fault for shooting early.)_

_**Mr. Martin: **__Hmm… Not sure how well it'd work as a series. Truth be told, I'm holding off judgment on the movie. First, let's see if it happens. Then, we'll see if it's any good. I have yet to see a good game to movie transition, though if pressed I'd put money on Mass Effect to succeed. _

_**Eternal Density:**__ Well, the way I see it, quarians place a lot of faith in the ships they pilot. To denounce your vehicle might seem stupid to them. Raising an eyebrow? Well… That just made sense to me. As for Ash calling Wrex by his given name rather than clan name… It just sounded right to me. Maybe not the best justification, but it's all I've got._

_And on with the show!_

_Mass Effect = BioWare. I don't even have an OC I can claim ownership of this time around._

_

* * *

_

Tali stood watch while Shepard and Alenko set the turrets of Make and Thresher to defensive modes. Their controlling VIs would stop any geth threats from harming the vehicles, allowing the teams for focus on their missions. Shepard looked to the others. "I was able to make contact with Joker, updated him on our plan. He'll get the _Normandy_ airborne and wait for the detonation, mop up as needed. They can't pick up signals inside the building. Probably geth jamming. Other team is informed." Both Alenko and Tali nodded understanding. With the housekeeping done, the team moved out.

ExoGeni, like the people who had founded the colony Zhu's Hope, had chosen one of the ancient Prothean for their headquarters. It made sense. They had proven to be reliable protection from the elements, and provided everything in inhabitants might need, so long as the systems were functional. The stone corridors, expansive champers, and multitude of ramps reminded Tali of stories from the flotilla. Haestrom, Amnek, and other quarian colonies shared design characteristics with Prothean architecture, or so she had been told. She had never seen them with her own eyes.

Maybe someday she would?

There was no time to dwell on old dreams, however. The actions of the present required her complete attention.

The main entrances to the building were blocked off by geth energy fields. Tali took a fast look at them, best as she could from the far side of the field, and could see power conduits stretching upward. There was no way to disable it from their side.

They did have luck on their side, however; there was some structural damage along a few interior walls, giving a route just large enough for them to pass through. As they moved through the rubble strewn corridor, Shepard looked back at Tali. "I probably should have asked this before, but how much experience do you have with squad tactics?"

"Not much," she admitted. "Basic training back on the flotilla, once right after I started my Pilgrimage…"

Shepard nodded. "Okay. Here's how we'll do this. I go first, you and Kaidan back me up."

"Got your back, Commander," Alenko replied.

Tali pulled out her shotgun and nodded. "Me, too."

The team continued ahead, picking their way carefully along the corridor and to the battle damaged areas beyond. As they stepped out into a larger passageway, growling pulled their attention to one side. A small pack of varren, large four-legged animals, stood there, ready to attack. Shepard held up a fist. Alenko stopped, Tali quickly understanding the halt gesture. After a moment, he waved them along. Alenko led the way as they tried to distance themselves from the varren. If they weren't proving a threat, there was no reason to attack. As well, the weapons fire would likely draw unwanted attention from any geth forces occupying the building.

But the varren felt threatened, or were driven by hunger. They split into two groups and advanced. Shepard did not hesitate, opening fire on the first group. Alenko followed his lead and fired on the second.

And Tali…

Her shotgun came up, aimed on target... but she held her fire. These were organics, not geth. Not attacking from malice. But they were still attacking, still a threat…

Shepard's assault rifle spat streams of slugs, tearing into the first group of incoming varren. He was holding them back well on his own, but could not turn his attention to the second group. Alenko tried to keep up with the second group. His pistol simply did not have enough power to drop a varren quickly, and his biotics could only delay them for so long. It seemed that for every varren he killed, every varren he threw, two more took its place. And the remainder of the group would be on him in moments…

Unless she acted.

The need to act overrode her hesitation. Tali ran by Alenko's side, shotgun held tightly at her hip as Kal's crosshair program lined her up on target. She opened fire, stopping the first varren that had broken through Alenko's defenses. With a slight nod of appreciation, Alenko switched his focus to those varren that were furthest away, allowing Tali to eliminate those that were close.

The gunfire came to an abrupt end. Alenko stood there for a moment longer, breathing hard at the adrenaline rush and recovery from biotic use. "Thanks, Tali," he said.

"You're welcome, Lieutenant Alenko." She allowed the shotgun to return to her side, though her eyes remained on the fallen varren.

She was surprised… Not from what she felt, but from what she didn't feel. There was no joy at killing them, nothing like what she felt at the destruction of geth. Nor did she feel… monstrous. What she'd done… it was necessity. She was defending a squad mate… There was no malice toward the varren. Just the need to stand by a squad mate in defense of the group.

It was like Kal'Reegar had said. There was no peaceful way out. While varren had only teeth and claws, what little she knew of them suggested them capable of causing, at minimum, great injury if not death. And if they had gotten to her, infection would very likely have killed her. Rather than prove herself to be useful, prove that her people were worth more than the treatment the other races gave them, she would have become a liability, a distraction during a crucial mission. Or, a piece of oddly shaped luggage to be removed…

Tali looked to Alenko and Shepard again. For reasons she could hardly fathom, they were already trusting her with their lives. Allowing her onto their team, having her watch their backs. Givign her access to the newest technology the Alliance had, the _Normandy_, without even so much as a chaperone… If they trusted her that much… maybe she could put that level of trust in them as well.

After checking that they were both all right, Shepard once more led them into the corridors of ExoGeni's headquarters. They climbed a series of ramps, passing by a VI console which had been destroyed.

The corridors seemed dead. No movement, no sounds, not even any signs that the geth were there. Either the other team had managed to pull that much attention, or the geth might be pulling out. Keelah, that would have been a good stroke of luck. One less thing for them to worry about.

But as they rounded the next corner, that was proven to be very wrong.

Tali's eyes darted around the room, getting a very fast assessment. Ramp along one side, glowing forcefield across from them, numerous computer terminals of various make and model, broken stones littering the floor…

And many geth.

The trio was spotted almost immediately, all three ducking back as geth pulse rifle fire came in. Shepard recovered most quickly, flicking his wrist as he sent one of his disk grenades in at the geth. It detonated, the high explosive charge's shock wave rattling Tali even on the far side of the thick stone wall. Alenko was next, focusing his biotics to lift another pair from cover.

And then it was Tali's turn. She dropped to the floor, popping out under Alenko's aim to throw a tech mine at the floating geth. The mine's pulse knocked their shields out, but didn't have enough power to disable their weapons. They did not get a chance to use them, as Shepard's next burst of fire tore through them easily.

"Redirect fire!"

Tali pulled back, hesitating a moment. It was neither Shepard nor Alenko who had spoken, and the voice was not one of geth. Even if the number of active programs allowed communication, their synthesized speech was easily discernable. It almost sounded like…

"Krogan!" Alenko pulled back, weapons fire sparking off the corner as Shepard lent covering fire.

Suddenly, the krogan was before her, towering over both Tali and Alenko and seemingly unfazed by Shepard's assault rifle. Alenko flashed blue as he formed dark energy into a barrier, but was sent flying as the krogan charged his shoulder into Alenko's chest. Tali's eyes went wide as the krogan started to bring his shotgun to bear.

Tali's shotgun, however, was already in line. She pulled the trigger.

The krogan was not killed, but staggered. Shields flared, and died. Then, the krogan was sent forward again, Shepard's own shotgun firing from behind. Shepard swung around the krogan, slapped a grenade to his helmet, and shoved him back toward the geth with a solid side kick before diving for cover.

Another shockwave. Incoming fire dropped to almost nothing.

Tali forced herself up, pulling her pistol and, after a few wide shots, managed to mop up the few remaining damaged geth. Shepard, back on his feet, had been more focused on his crewman. "Kaidan!"

She turned, seeing him help Alenko to his feet. Alenko shook his head hard, coughing as he braced himself against a wall. "I'm all right," he said. "Didn't think krogan could move that fast." He took a moment to check on the armored explosives bag, seeing it was still undamaged as he slung it on his back once more.

Tali took a closer look, seeing his chest armor sported a new dent. Shepard noticed it as well, giving it a light tap. "What's your hardsuit computer saying?"

"Armor's intact," Alenko reported. "Probably shouldn't take another hit like that. I'll stick behind cover, Commander, but I'm not pulling out."

Shepard clapped his hand against Alenko's shoulder. "I know." He looked to Tali. "You all right?"

Tali nodded. "I'm all right, Commander." In truth, the krogan had shaken her up fairly well. While she was comforted by the fact that, like with the varren, she felt no joy at killing the krogan, her hesitation at firing on organics seemed to be waning quickly. She wasn't sure what to think about that…

Shepard led the team onward, starting up the ramp. Tali moved into second position, allowing the damaged Alenko to remain further back. As they passed through the next series of stone corridors, they did not face any more large squads. The few scattered pairs and trios of platforms were little problem for them. Tali tried to keep track of their location, but with walls, floor, and ceiling all made of the same stone it was easy to lose track.

As they rounded the next bend, however, she quickly realized they had arrived at an exterior wall. Just up the way, a large, purple and gray metal claw broke into the structure's wall and floor. There was enough room to get by… just…

"Looks like we've got a target," Shepard said. He looked to her. "Tali, think this'll do?"

There was a gap between the bottom of the claw and the stone floor, just enough room for her to squeeze through. Tali set her shotgun on the floor, dropped onto her back, and slid underneath the claw. The ship stretched on above her along the side of the building. Tali could see the ship's other two claws in the levels above. "No," she reported as she pulled herself back in. "We want to take out the topmost claw. That way the ship hinges away from the building and tears the remaining claws out. Less chance they can recover."

"Okay, then," she heard Shepard reply. She slid back into the building, saw his outstretched hand, and accepted his assistance back to her feet.

His grip was strong, as was his arm…

Why was she noticing that?

Shepard pulled his assault rifle back to his hands, gesturing up the corridor. "Let's keep going, look for another ramp up."

The process repeated. Up a corridor, clear the next room, destroy a geth patrol, find another ramp. Tali was glad her envirosuit's computer was tracking their movements. If not, she wasn't sure she'd be able to find her way out.

They reached another landing, this one a long corridor connecting to a series of laboratories. In the distance, Tali could spot another claw. With the distance they had climbed, Tali assumed it had to be the topmost claw. That was their target.

Surely, the geth had to know what they were up to. They had to be congregating nearby to stop their approach. But nothing drew her eyes, popped up on scanners. She looked to Shepard. He was looking over the landing carefully as well, but finally waved ahead as he started forward.

They moved along a higher level, looking down at the labs as they passed. Computers were off-line, hacked into or destroyed. There were no bodies. It seemed the ExoGeni workers had managed to clear out in time.

The walkway came to an end, the team overlooking the landing below. Another lab, larger, better equipped. Tali spotted a number of geth hubs nearby, and many mobile platforms tending to them. Troopers, supported by rocket drones, patrolled the area. "Okay," Shepard said over a short range communicator, "here's the plan. Tali, tech mines at sides, drive them in, then center to disable them. Kaidan, lift as many as you can. I'll hit the largest mass of them with a grenade. Worked for us before, should work here again."

"Agreed," she heard Alenko reply. Tali added her nod as she prepped several tech mines.

"Now!"

Tali moved instantly, throwing two mines as quickly as she could. They landed at either edge of the geth formation, detonating. The geth reacted quickly, apparently ready for such an attack. Several units were left vulnerable… but they did not mass up like they had before. They had learned from the last attack.

"New plan," Shepard said. "Kaidan, can you pull them in together?"

"I think so," Alenko replied. He focused, dark energy boiling around him. A point formed near the center of the group, growing into a spiraling maw. A biotic singularity.

Tali had heard of the strength of biotics. She couldn't have guessed just how strong humans had become, how far they'd come in development. Was Alenko the standard? Or was he an extreme example?

The attack was successful, as the geth were pulled toward the maw. They collided into each other, and formed a perfectly vulnerable target. Shepard did not wait any longer, stepping out with a grenade in each hand. He threw them together, the pair embedding in the mass of geth.

Moments later, they were showered with geth pieces.

The way was clear for them to descent toward the claw. Tali saw the destruction that had been wrought. Some units were more intact than others, but all were off-line. The hubs had been shredded, and some of ExoGeni's co-opted equipment had been destroyed.

One station remained on-line, and even from across the room Tali could see it was still operational. Shepard looked to her, then gestured to the station. "Think you could see what the geth were up to, here?"

"I can try," Tali replied. She approached the station, omni-tool flaring to life as she started an interface attempt. It depended on just how well the geth had protected the hacked system from further infiltration, how far their counter-intrusion programs had evolved over time.

In the end, ExoGeni's own database programs helped her. The geth had not deleted them, instead incorporating them into the new structure. She was able to sift through in a way she couldn't with an actual geth memory core. "The geth have been tasked with destroying something…" She started digging ever deeper, following the data. "Saren is concerned about something called a… Thorian."

"Thorian?" Shepard asked. "Any idea what that is?"

"No," Tali said. "That is well encrypted by ExoGeni's database. I could get to it, but it would take time."

"Time we don't have." Shepard looked back to the corridor they'd come down, as if expecting geth to be waiting for them. "Just tell me what you can get fast."

Tali nodded, more data coming in. "Whatever it is, it's beneath the Zhu's Hope colony. The geth have formed several more attack strategies aimed with getting to the nearby tunnels."

Shepard nodded back. "Then it sounds like we're heading back to Zhu's Hope. Good enough for me." He looked to the landing claw. "Let's take this ship out."

Alenko pulled the bag off of his back, walking with Tali to the claw. He studied it as he opened the bag. "Looks like hydraulics. Here, and here." He gestured to two clusters of piping and hoses.

"Yes. There will be electrical backups as well." Tali pulled out the first block of Comp O, placing it on a cluster of cabling.

The pair worked together to place the explosives on anything that looked vital, then they simply worked to stuff every opening they could find. In the end, the claw was packed full of the paper wrapped blocks, carefully stuffed with their detonators. After a final check that there was nothing they wanted to cart along with them, they grabbed the armored bag and ran for it.

They ran hard back the way they'd come, Shepard somehow able to navigate the twisting series of corridors and ramps. How he did not get lost, Tali was uncertain. She had found no good landmarks during the ascent, except for…

The claw. So concerned had Tali been for any possible geth response that she hadn't kept track of how long they'd run. They had returned to the first claw, each member of the team picking their way along the corridor and on to safety.

This was the place. They were as close as they dared be to the explosives, and as far as they dared try to transmit to the detonators. In mid stride, on Shepard's command, Alenko's omni-tool flared to life as the lieutenant triggered the charges.

Above them, the explosive detonated as one.

The building rumbled as the geth ship's weight fell upon the two remaining claws. Tali could swear she felt the floor start to angle outward. The rumble turned to a roar as they rounded the corner, but Tali had to stop. She grabbed onto the corner, peeking into the corridor behind and watched as the claw started to back out of the wall. It was simply too much weight on the stone, and not enough area to support it.

With one final groan of strain, part of the wall gave way. Shielding her head for a moment with one arm, Tali then looked back to see debris falling past the now gaping hole in the wall. She moved closer to the edge, looking down at the geth ship as it plummeted toward the ground. Doubtless the ship was attempting to reactivate its engines, to do anything possible to keep from crashing. Any platforms on board were probably trying to assist…

They did not get that chance. A brightly glowing slug shot in impossibly fast, punching through the geth ship and breaking it in half. As the pieces fell, Tali could see _Normandy_ streak past, banking hard to return to the colony.

"Hell of a sight."

Tali turned, seeing Shepard and Alenko standing behind her, watching the events unfold. Shepard, who had spoken before, continued. "That should set them back for a while."

"It should," Tali agreed. Looking back to the debris as it finally dropped into the cloud layer, Tali could not hold back her people's collective anger at the geth. "I hope that ship was filled with those geth bosh'tets… "

She felt a hand on her shoulder, looking back once more. The hand belonged to Shepard. She could see his eyes through the face piece of his helmet. They carried sympathy… It was not something she was used to seeing in others.

Tali wasn't sure what he was going to say next. The team's communicators broke the silence before he could. "_Normandy_ to shore party," Joker's voice came, "come in, shore party."

"Loud and clear, Joker," Shepard replied. "That was some good shooting we just saw."

"Hey, Commander, you set 'em up, we'll knock 'em down." Tali could hear the pilot chuckle. "But whatever you did," he said, his voice now becoming more serious, "it stirred up a mess of trouble. I'm seeing a large number of geth pulling back to ExoGeni. Might wanna get out of there, pronto."

Shepard nodded. "Thanks for the heads up, Joker. Shepard, out." His comm chirped as the channel closed. He grabbed the assault rifle from his back. "You heard him, team, let's get back to the garage."

Alenko nodded, drawing his pistol. Tali drew her shotgun. "Ready, Commander."

They started back, soon arriving at the site of the first ambush. The force field had collapsed, the ship powering it no longer present. Shepard activated his comm again. "Shepard to Williams. Chief, what's your status?"

Tali heard her reply. "Good to go, Commander. Joker gave us the heads up, and we're on the way back to the vehicles." Williams paused a moment. "We've also picked up a passenger."

"A certain someone's daughter?" Shepard asked, the smile he wore showing in his tone.

"Roger that, Skipper." Williams sounded in much better spirits than before. It seemed that the earlier issues were long since resolved. "She's got a hell of a story, too… Better to let her tell you herself."

Shepard looked out where the force field had been. Large ramps led downward, suggesting this as a main route to the garage level. "We're on the way down, ourselves. Rendezvous in the garage. Keep her safe, understood?"

"Perfectly, Skipper," she replied. "Williams, out."

Closing the channel, Shepard looked to Tali and Alenko. "Be ready for anything," he said. "Hard to know how fast the geth might get here." Both simply nodded. Shepard took the lead, Tali and Alenko matching pace close behind.

For a time, it was smooth running. Shepard's rifle remained pointed down the ramp, Tali and Alenko aiming down every corridor, landing, and doorway they passed. Then, the response they were expecting finally replied. "Contact!" Shepard yelled moments before he opened fire.

It quickly became a running battle, Shepard wearing down the shields of any geth before them as Alenko used his biotics to disable and pistol to destroy. Tali started working through her remaining tech mines, shotgun tearing through any geth that managed to survive Shepard's assault rifle. Hits were scored, to both sides. More than once, Shepard ducked behind the broken stone to slap a new power pack into his kinetic shield generator, Alenko using his barrier to give him that same cover. They kept Tali toward the middle, allowing her to escape most of the fire.

Her shields went low once, the red pulsing on her helmet nearly causing her panic. She'd been so far from cover, having to sprint through the geth fire in a desperate attempt to reach it. Tali had slammed into the wall beyond, shields lasting just long enough for her to switch out her own power pack. To have made it that far, only to have her suit breeched in the midst of their escape… Would that be unfortunate, or just plain pathetic? But there wasn't time for panic, time for worry. She had to remain focused, to keep up her part of the defensive fire.

Tali launched herself back into the fray, back into the place of relative safety between the two human marines. The trio continued their mad dash through the geth forces.

The fight became a blur of motion, a roar of weapons fire punctuated by commanding shouts for cover. It seemed like it would never end… until they reached the final ramp, reached the garage level. They charged down the last corridor. Shepard stopped two steps beyond the doorway. He waited just long enough to give Tali and Alenko shoves to either side before spinning out of the way himself. His reasons became clear moments later.

The geth, looking to eliminate those who had destroyed their ship, continued into the garage after them… and into range of Mako's cannon. The vehicle's VI turned the turrets into line, opening fire immediately after confirming hostile status. The geth formation was obliterated.

Williams's team returned to the garage as Shepard led them back to the Mako. Tali was relieved to see Wrex and Garrus with Williams, both appearing unharmed. She was coming to realize just what they would be facing in the coming weeks. They couldn't afford to lose anyone. Another human woman, similar in appearance to Juliana, walked over with them.

"No time for introductions," Shepard said. "We've got more geth coming down after us."

"Same here," Williams replied.

Shepard started pointing. "Kaidan, Garrus, back in the Thresher. Everyone else, Mako." The team scattered, heading to their assigned vehicles.

The Mako was slightly more cramped, but nothing Tali wasn't used to from her years in the Flotilla. As Shepard removed his helmet and climbed behind Mako's controls, he spoke. "You're Juliana's daughter, I presume."

"Yes," the young woman replied. "My name is Elizabeth. Thanks for the ride out of here."

Shepard smiled. "Hey, your stop is on our way." Mako's engine fired up, shields flaring into life as Shepard started driving them out. The debris of the colossus remained in a heap, no other geth yet massing to stop them. Thresher took up a flanking position as the two vehicles started back along the sky bridge. "Ashley said you have an interesting story to tell."

Elizabeth nodded. "She asked me what was special about Feros," the woman started, "what might bring the geth here."

Williams chuckled from the gunner's seat. "Had to pry it out of her, actually."

"Well, I'm in enough trouble with ExoGeni as it is…" Elizabeth sighed. "Anyway, I told her about something ExoGeni's been studying recently. Species 37, called the Thorian."

Tali spoke up. "We saw the name mentioned in a database the geth had hacked into, but we couldn't get any more information on it."

"It's a plant," Elizabeth explained, "of a sort. It lives in the tunnels below Zhu's Hope. ExoGeni's been watching it and the colonists, waiting to see if it affects them in any way."

"They what?" Shepard exclaimed, though kept enough focus on the sky bridge to keep them from falling off of it.

"Nothing's happened, yet!" Elizabeth quickly responded. "They… ExoGeni put me in charge of observing the colonists when I started complaining about them being the subject of this… experiment. The Thorian has these… creepers that tend to it. We've seen more of them being created recently, moving closer to the colony, but they just seem to be observing them."

"Observing them?" Tali asked.

The woman nodded. "Yes. It's almost showing signs of… intelligence. It may be trying to determine how to communicate with the colony. We don't want to get in the way if that's the case."

"Still…" Shepard sighed. "It's wrong to subject people to that unknowingly, especially if they're wrong."

"I know. I stayed behind to try and get a message out to Colonial Affairs. Make sure this got heard by someone." Elizabeth shook her head. "When that ship locked on, though, it did something to the building's power grid. Comm unit shut down before I could finish sending."

"Well, WE know about it now," Shepard replied. "Might be benign, might not be. Whatever it is, though, it seems like the geth are trying to take it out. Saren wanted something from it, and now wants it dead. That's enough reason to check into this further."

They continued along the sky bridge, back into the fight, and toward the colony that might be in trouble again very soon, be it from a renewed geth attack… or from a visit by the planet's native inhabitants.

* * *

_Okay, now for the commentary._

_You might have noticed nothing said about spores, or about colonists being controlled. No, you didn't miss anything. I'm not going that route with this story._

_Yes, I know, I've been dead-on accurate to this point, which was a good thing. Problem is, I'm kinda ruined on "Taken over by strange alien spores" plotlines. Star Trek pulled it a couple too many times, and it's hard for me to take it seriously anymore. I'm doing something else with the story that I feel works. Includes the needed plot elements, and removes the "fighting the colonists" aspect._

_So, that's my story. Maybe it's not the best plan, but it's a plan I can work with and enjoy what I'm doing. Hopefully you all enjoy the little detour._


	16. Chapter 16

_And after a long month off, we're back on the air!_

_Yeah… sorry about that. Between work, training, and my step-brother's wedding (don't get me wrong, that one was fun), I've been either busy or brain dead._

_Thanks to a final big push and some excellent pokes from __**Stickki**__, this chapter is pretty well wrapped up. I've got the next one figured out, and I'll start in on it tonight._

_Story's not done yet, folks, not by a long shot. Just bear with my schedule, and the chapters will continue rolling in as I can churn them out._

_**Fauzzie:**__ Glad to hear the style works. I'm getting back into combat writing, and the small squad style made the most sense. Hopefully that'll scale up when we've got everyone in one mission later on._

_**Mr. Martin:**__ I've heard some reviews of Prince of Persia suggesting that, too. I'll add it to the list._

_**Endymion Blue:**__ Thanks for the poke. I found the word and corrected. Re-uploading with this.  
_

_**To All of Ya:**__ I'm also glad to hear the altered plot still works. Some of the ideas I've been playing with introduce some more radical changes than dropping the spores. I'll keep them in the works._

_**Anonymous:**__ Okay, first off, I'd prefer folks at least leave a name, even with negative reviews. Mostly so that I can keep track of who says what, if things improve or not. As for your specific comments, you're right that the early chapters were a bit lacking. I'll be swinging back to them, see what I can do to put them on par with the rest of the story._

_Well, my break is over for now. Back to work, then back to the story. Hopefully it won't take a month this time._

_Disclaimer: Mass Effect is owned by BioWare. I might be borrowing it for a story, but I make no claims to it._

_

* * *

_

"Woah!"

Elizabeth held on tight as Mako hurtled upward, propelled by its four thrusters. Even though the VI was finally fully adjusted and using Mako's dampeners to keep them stable in their seats, the view outside Mako's windshield told her that she was moving. Or at least, that was what Tali guessed. She was fully focused on the console before her, ensuring that the VI was keeping up with Shepard's driving and that the kinetic barriers were ready to take the next hit.

The vehicle landed, occupants remaining stable. Williams opened fire the moment her crosshair landed on a target. As before, the geth had formed what limited barricades they could with the debris from the sky bridge. The cannon gave its loud report, high speed slug breaking through the barricade and blasting the geth apart.

No sooner had they been dispatched when the Mako's kinetic barriers flared bright blue, strength dropping. Energy pulses, many of them, were incoming. Shepard turned away sharply, pulling behind a pile of debris which managed to absorb the blasts. Tali rerouted power and the barriers started to recharge. "What was that?" Shepard asked. "Another Colossus?"

"No," Williams replied. "Smaller than that. And there's three of them."

Tali looked at the turret camera. "Armatures," she identified. "They are weaker, but in large numbers they could still be a threat."

Thresher opened fire, but its twin machine guns did not have the power to punch through the geth shields. Once Mako's barriers were restored, Shepard took them back into the fight. Williams opened up with their single heavy machine gun, its slower thuds filling the interior. Slugs sparked off the armatures, weakening shields but not able to punch through.

She followed up with a cannon strike at the center unit. It blew through the weakened shields, detonating the armature and peppering others with shrapnel. They were staggered, shields overloading and blowing out the armatures' generators. They were easy targets for Williams's next machine gun bursts.

They were mere meters from the next building, reentering without any further opposition. As they approached ExoGeni's improvised fortification, the Mako rolled to a stop. "Skipper?" Williams asked.

"This is our passenger's stop," he said, looking back at Elizabeth. "Besides," he continued, "I want to have a little chat with our resident executive."

Elizabeth sighed, her head hanging slightly. Perhaps she was regretting telling them about the Thorian? "I'm gonna end up fired, aren't I?"

Shepard gave a confident smile through his helmet's face shield. "You did the right thing telling us about it," he said. "Now that we know, we can make sure the colonists stay safe. Don't worry about Jeong."

She gave a small nod. "I'll try…"

Alenko and Garrus again stood watch in the Thresher, allowing the rest of the team to exit Mako and start inside. Things looked about the same as before, guards standing watch over the researchers and executives within. They held up their weapons as the team approached, allowing them to pass unhindered. The moment they entered the lights of the central clearing, Juliana's excited voice cried out, "Elizabeth!"

"Mom!" the younger woman replied, rushing past them to meet her mother in a hug. Tali felt her heart warmed by their display. Their actions had brought an immediate good, and she was happy she could be there to see it.

Most of those gathered, both of Shepard's team and the ExoGeni survivors, were also heartened. One of the group, however, was looking nervous: Jeong.

Nervous at Elizabeth's survival… Of course. As a high level executive, he would likely know about any dirty little secret ExoGeni had. Whatever actions he was considering, however, Shepard stopped as he spoke up. "We know what the geth are after."

"Oh?" Jeong actually looked hopeful for a moment. Perhaps he thought himself safe? That if Shepard wasn't launching into an accusation the geth weren't after what he wanted to keep hidden. "You'll be able to deal with them, then?"

"Yes," Shepard replied. "For the most part, we already have. Just need to make sure we mop up any survivors."

Williams, apparently unable to contain herself, added, "We even managed to keep your office intact."

Jeong raised an eyebrow at that, but did not comment. To Shepard, he asked, "Why are they here?"

Elizabeth, apparently no longer caring about job security, spoke. "They're looking for the Thorian. Given how they hit the colony, they're probably looking to destroy it."

Juliana's brow creased. "Thorian? What's that?"

"Some sort of sentient plant," Elizabeth replied, "near as we can figure. ExoGeni has been studying it for a while now." She sighed. "I found out about it, got concerned for the colonists, since it lives in the tunnels under the colony, and got suspended when I started making too much noise."

"And that would have been it," Jeong interrupted, clearly not approving of her confession, "if you'd have kept your mouth shut. But if you're spilling company secrets, ExoGeni will destroy you in court."

Shepard reacted immediately, ripping off his helmet and fixing Jeong with an intense glare, voice dropping into a bass rumble. "You do that, and I'll make sure both the Alliance AND the Council come crashing down on ExoGeni so fast you won't have time to cash your last paycheck."

Jeong backpedaled. "Look, I might be overreacting a bit, but…"

"But nothing!" Shepard pressed even harder. "I want to know everything about ExoGeni's plans for the Thorian, and you're going to tell me... RIGHT NOW."

The executive looked like he was about to crumble, or brace for a beating. Shepard had managed to take the fight out of him very quickly. The room had fallen silent, none of the ExoGeni survivors wanted to become a target. Neither Williams nor Wrex seemed interested in intervening… But there had to be a better way to learn what Shepard wanted…

Tali stepped forward, drawing the eyes of all those around her. "We're coming to an impasse, here. You could solve it," she said. Years in the Migrant Fleet taught one diplomacy, either in dealing with other races with prejudice against her people or when handling disputes between shipmates. Tali held her hands out passively, keeping her voice calm. "Our mission works toward the benefit of the entire galaxy. Shepard is concerned for the Alliance, and for all in Council space. If you help us, we might be able to help you as well."

She finally got a good look at the man's eyes. She could see him searching, looking for any way out, any ally. Jeong seemed to latch onto her words. "Of course," he said, trying to keep his voice steady. He looked back to Shepard. "ExoGeni has never seen a plant like the Thorian before. It can actually create drones to care for it over time."

"Creepers?" Tali asked. "We've heard of those."

Jeong, probably not wanting to anger Shepard any further, did not ask how she knew. "From the reports I was sent, the Thorian can actually modify those creepers if it is given samples of genetic material."

Elizabeth look startled. "I hadn't heard that."

"You wouldn't have," Jeong replied. "We got that information after your suspension."

Shepard learned back, arms crossed over his chest. "And you thought the Thorian might SAMPLE the colonists?"

Jeong nodded slightly. "We also managed to capture several of the creepers for further study. They're in a facility off-world."

"You will tell me where," Shepard replied, just enough edge in his voice to remind Jeong of his earlier threat.

"As soon as things calm down," Jeong said, "yes, I will."

"Thank you," Tali replied. "We'll resolve this situation soon. But… what you should realize is that you have a living breathing colony here. There are many out there who would cherish that." Tali had to admit to herself it took great restraint to keep her anger from her voice. Placing a colony in such danger willingly… Her people would never squander such a thing, if they had any worlds left to call their own. "If ExoGeni focused their efforts on it, instead of the Thorian, it could very well flourish."

Jeong gave another slow nod, but this one was of contemplation. Perhaps he had not thought of it in that manner before. "You might be right…"

A debate started up among the survivors about what could be done with the colony, farewells exchanged as the team started away. Once out of earshot, Williams spoke. "You really laid into that guy, Skipper. Did he kick your dog, or something?"

Shepard, still without his helmet, looked to her with a smile. "Nah, nothing like that. Just learned that sometimes it pays to play into the tough military stereotype."

Tali's eyebrows furrowed. "I don't think I understand."

He looked to her next. "Sometimes, executive types will feel more loyalty to their corporation than to the Alliance. Their choice, of course, but I can't afford to let that get in our way. My folks are career military, so I got to see how they handled it. Doesn't always work, but I saw pretty quickly that we didn't have a lot of options." Shepard smiled. "Good on you, though, jumping in like that. I was wondering if anyone would."

Williams chuckled. "You'd already taken my usual part, Skipper." Wrex simply shrugged.

As Tali hadn't replied, Shepard continued. "What we did, essentially, is what's known on Earth as a 'good cop' / 'bad cop' routine. I pushed him hard, and you gave him a way out." She could hear almost hear his smirk. "It's almost like we planned it that way."

Tali managed a smile. "Well, I'm glad I was able to help." She was glad there was a reason. Much as Tali could understand being that angry at the man, it didn't seem like a useful way to get his cooperation.

Though that didn't explain why he was so tough on that woman back at Zhu's Hope… There wasn't time to ask, though. They were approaching the Mako. As Shepard pulled open one side hatch, Tali's suit comm buzzed. From the movements of the others, it was clear all had heard it. "_Normandy_ to shore party!" Joker's voice came, "Come in, shore party!"

Shepard responded immediately. "We're here, Joker. What's the situation?"

"The geth just hit us hard," the pilot reported. "Drove us from the docking bay, got the colony pretty well flooded. I think the colonists hid in the tunnels under the colony. Comms were jammed, couldn't get word out until we were clear."

Shepard waved the others in as he hauled himself into the Mako. "Stay clear, Joker," he replied. "We're on our way."

"Roger that. _Normandy_ out." The comm cut off.

Weren't those tunnels the one the Thorian was supposed to inhabit? From how quickly Shepard get them into the Mako, Tali was certain he'd made that realization as well. If it really was a threat to the colonists, they would be walking right into its reach.

Shepard had them moving before Tali had regained her seat, swinging around the next bend, through the tunnel access door, and back into the light with Thresher right on their tail. They formed a loose formation as they travelled down the sky bridge. What few geth platforms remained were moving for Zhu's Hope, weapons aimed to keep the colonists from escaping.

Both vehicles peppered the geth with machine gun fire, Mako dropping the occasional cannon shot into the fray. Neither vehicle stopped, or even slowed, until they reached the access door to the colony. The door was blasted open wide enough for those on foot to pass. The vehicles could not, nor could they open the hole wider with Mako's cannon.

"Look sharp, people, we're on foot from here." Shepard pulled on his helmet as Wrex checked his shotgun and moved for the hatch.

Another foot battle. Another round against the geth. Once more, Tali was throwing herself into harm's way for strangers. She looked to the others.

Wrex, from what she had heard, was a mercenary. Either he had been hired, or after taking out Fist he'd decided to stick around.

Garrus… Tali didn't have much information on him. She had no idea why he was there. Maybe, once the mission was over, she would ask. She was sure he had his reasons.

Tali already understood why the humans were there. With their colony, Eden Prime, attacked, their people were clearly at risk. And, with Shepard as a Council Spectre tasked with stopping both Saren and his geth allies, it made perfect sense for them to be there.

Which just left her. Why was Tali there?

Simple answer. She was there to help. To stop Saren, make sure he plans to usher in the return of the Reapers failed. To protect her people.

It seemed her goals matched the humans.

With vehicles in their defensive modes, the six sentient team passed into the structure. All had weapons drawn and aimed. They moved carefully, watching for any sign of ambush.

Williams seemed to be the most nervous of the group… Her aim moved quickly, checking every shadow in moments before checking them all again. That also meant she was the first to see… "Movement!"

Tali's eyes, and pistol, snapped up. She identified the geth trooper moments before Williams opened fire. "Up the ramp!" Shepard yelled, leading the charge as more geth appeared.

He was right. There was no cover on their level. If they stood and fought they'd likely be slaughtered. The team was close behind him, firing as they ran. The hail of fire tore through any geth that hadn't dropped behind cover. Return fire spattered off the ground and walls around them some sparking off shields. Tali heard a war cry to her side in Wrex's deep tones as he fired another long burst from his assault rifle.

Somehow, having the krogan on their side was a great comfort.

Shepard ducked at the corner of the low wall, prepping and hurling a grenade at the remaining geth. Several were destroyed flat out, others simply thrown from cover and into the team's waiting gun sights.

With the threat eliminated, Shepard looked to the team. "Everyone all right?" Each person checked their armor, seeing no damage. "Then let's keep moving."

At the end of the balcony was an elevator giving access to the colony. All six crammed in to the small space, Shepard punching the controls to send them on their way.

Okay… In shopping districts, she could understand. Even on the Presidium, it was acceptable. But, Keelah, why did the colony need such slow elevators?

At least there was no ritzy music to go along with it, much as that might kill the anxious energy in the air.

Shepard, Wrex, and Williams stood shoulder to shoulder at the door as the elevator came to a stop. All had rifled aimed as the door opened. Nothing awaited them in the corridor, even after several long moments of waiting. Shepard raised a hand, fist clenched.

What did that mean, again? Tali had been given a packet of data to go through after arriving. She'd managed to read it once or twice between sessions in Engineering. Hand signals had been a part of it, something she'd noticed crossed over from quarian tactics to humans.

The signal changed, this one pointing out and left, up the corridor. He led the way, the others following. Tali quickly spurred herself into motion, vowing to look over the data once they returned to the _Normandy_.

A short stone corridor, a ramp downward. The main courtyard of the colony was just ahead. Already Tali could hear the sounds of battle. She heard Shepard's voice over their shared communication line. "Ash, Garrus, you're with me. Kaidan, take Tali and Wrex. Swing around the far side and hit their flank. We'll keep their attention."

"Aye, Commander," Alenko replied. He looked back at his teammates, then pointed toward the left side of the colony, hooking his arm around to the right. So, they would be heading left and circling around. Maybe Tali could figure this out on the fly after all?

They started at a run, heading for the damaged freighter which provided a perfect path to the far side of the courtyard. Tali could hear muted gunfire as Shepard's team struck at the geth. She found herself praying for their safety, hoping that Keelah watched over them as they fought.

Over them? Or over him?

Where did that thought come from?

They reached the end of the freighter, Alenko slowing as they reached daylight beyond. He peered out, saw that they were clear, and led the way around the freighter's side. Tali got her first good look at the skirmish beyond.

There was a ramp leading to the tunnels below the colony. Weapons fire reached out at the geth. Survivors from the squad Commander Shepard had left in defense, perhaps? Shepard and his team had taken cover in a cargo storage area at the far side of the courtyard. A number of geth platforms had broken off from the main group to counter them, but most were focused on fighting into the tunnels.

None looked toward Alenko's team.

Alenko drew his pistol, readying a tech mine. Tali did the same, while Wrex readied his assault rifle. Alenko looked to her, checking if she was ready. Both held up their readied tech mines, nodded, and threw as one.

Tali's mines detonated near the geth attacking the defenders. The charge overloaded their shields and control systems, stopping them in their tracks and making them easy targets for the defenders. They started to gain the upper hand almost immediately, but there were still more geth to go.

Alenko's mine landed in the middle of the geth engaging Shepard's team. Their weapons fell silent as they overheated. Shepard did not hesitate, leading a renewed charge at the suddenly defenseless geth. Alenko followed suit, pistol drawn and firing as he ran, with Tali and Wrex close behind.

As the six converged, the geth became utterly overwhelmed. They could not defend against three separate attacks. What return fire they managed was scattered, ineffective. They fell quickly. The colony was again secure.

The team broke up to make one last sweep for any remaining geth. Tali's attention was diverted by one of the destroyed geth platforms. This was the first chance since joining the _Normandy_ crew she'd had to pause and examine one. She knelt beside it, sifting through the remaining components. In its former chest cavity she found a small oval shaped device. Tali scanned it with her omni-tool. It appeared to be a kinetic barrier generator… but it was not a type she recognized.

Something new. Something that might give insight to how the geth were developing, how they thought. Her father had asked her… ordered her… to look for such technology during her Pilgrimage to help him in a project. 'The key to retaking the homeworld.'

In fact, it felt like the main reason he'd even been there when she'd left the _Rayya_.

She'd agreed, of course. He was her father, after all, and an admiral. And this was just the sort of thing he had wanted.

After the fiasco with the data core, Tali had worked up new scanning routines for future tech finds. She checked it clean of homing devices, self-repair nodes, or anything that could make it dangerous. Once she was satisfied, she plucked the generator from its housing and slipped it into one of the many hidden pockets of her suit. She would want to examine it further when she had time, then arrange to have it sent back to the flotilla.

She really hoped her father knew what he was doing…

A whistle caught her attention. The others had regrouped, and Shepard was waving her over. She regained her feet and jogged to rejoin them, Shepard leading the way to the tunnel entrance, moving to speak with one of the marines he'd left in defense. "What's the status?"

"Sir," the man started, "when the geth attacked, we felt the best option was to pull the colonists into the tunnels. They would be safe from attack, relatively, as this is the only known entrance to this section. So long as we held, sir…" The marine paused. "Glad you got here when you did."

Shepard nodded, setting a hand on the marine's shoulder. "How many did we lose?"

"Two, sir," the marine reported. "New guys. A little slow changing out their shield batteries." From his tone, Tali thought the man was blaming himself for what happened.

Shepard sighed. "You did all you could," he said, "I'm sure. Stay here, hold the entrance. We'll head down to check on the others." The marine nodded, and Shepard gestured for the others to follow.

He hadn't mentioned the Thorian to the marine… Tali could guess why. He already felt like he'd failed his shipmate. There was no need to add in concern over the colonists.

The team of six proceeded into the stone tunnels below the colony. Other marines, those injured in the earlier fighting, stood as a final line of defense. Around the next bend stood the colonists. Fai Dan stood at the head, others huddled together for comfort. "Commander!" he exclaimed at seeing them. "When the geth hit again…" He shook his head. "It was a lot stronger than before. If your people hadn't been here… if you hadn't come…"

Shepard raised a hand to forestall further comments. "It's all right. I'm just glad we got here in time. Are you all okay?"

"Yeah," Fai Dan replied. "Yeah, we are." He looked back to the others, checking on each one. "With some luck, we might… be able to…" His brow furrowed as he scanned the crowd again. "Wait… Arcelia!" Several looked up, but none were the woman he searched for. "Arcelia! Where are you?" He pushed into the crowd as the colonists started to look amongst themselves.

Tali heard more shouts. Other names. "David!" "May!" "Where are they?" "Weren't they the first group down here?"

Shepard looked back to the group. Tali could see his eyes through his helmet, could see the worry in them. He knew, as they all did, what had happened.

The colonists had gone into the Thorian's lair. Three, at least, were now in its company.

The rescue mission was not yet over.

Shepard pushed through to Fai Dan. "We'll go in and look for them," he said. "The geth are clear up top. Take the others, wait for us there."

"What?" Fai Dan asked, confused. "Why? Is there something wrong?" He fell silent as his eyes landed on Shepard's. "Oh…" Without asking any further, he turned to the others. "Let's get up to the colony and assess damage, people. The marines will look for the others."

The team met up on the far side of the colonist mass. Over comms to that none of the colonists would hear, Shepard spoke. "Okay, best guess, three of the colonists were far enough from the group that the Thorian's creepers were able to grab them. I'd say it's likely the Thorian has those captives ExoGeni was hoping they'd get."

"So, what's the plan?" Garrus asked.

"Easy. We go in after them." Shepard looked down the tunnel, then back to the group. "We don't know what the Thorian is really capable of. Maybe it just makes better creepers, maybe it can turn the colonists against us. Until we know, hold your fire. We don't want to hit any civilians."

"Right with you, Skipper," Williams replied with a strong nod.

They continued ahead, Shepard leading the way. Williams and Alenko remained close by, Tali right behind them, with Garrus and Wrex at the rear. As they descended further into the tunnels, Tali could see the starts of a… growth. Vines and tendrils running along the walls, all a sickly dark green. Some of the side passages were overgrown, others lines with vines and seeming to stretch into infinity.

"Woah!"

The group stopped, all drawn to Williams's exclamation. Her rifle was pointed straight at the… face… of a… creature. It had the conventional body shape shared by most sentient beings, but where eyes would normally sit were two dark hollows. Its fingers were like claws. "What IS that?" Williams asked.

"Not sure," Alenko replied, "but it's definitely not human."

"Let's try to take that as a good sign," Shepard noted. "I'd rather we get the colonists out of here alive, then have them wind up as thralls."

Tali shrugged. "It's not attacking us. Maybe that's a good sign, too?"

"Not attacking us, YET," Wrex rumbled.

Arriving at the next stairwell, they proceeded down another level. Just ahead was a cavernous opening. Tali could spot a number of walkways leading to a central platform. She could not see any floor below them. "So," Garrus said, perhaps to break the nervous silence," all we need to do is find this thing and figure out what it…" The group stepped into the clearing, Garrus's voice trailing off as his head turned upward.

In fact, everyone's head turned upward. All eyes were drawn to the massive being before them.

Above them hung a massive bulb, with slits approximating eyes or other sensory organs. A cluster of tendrils hung from what looked like a mouth, other larger clusters reaching out to the walls around it. It dripped with ooze.

Tali switched off her suit's olfactory systems. Something told her she did NOT want to know what it smelled like. "Keelah, what IS that?"

Shepard shook his head. "That does NOT look like any plant I've ever seen…" He looked to the creature again. "This could be… problematic."

Williams's head slowly turned to look at Shepard. Tali guessed she had a rather incredulous look on her face. "Skipper, you are a master of understatement."

Another sound drew their attention, and no less than three assault rifle muzzles. The creature's mouth tendrils were raised up, the sounds coming like coughing. Suddenly, a form dropped from the mouth to land on the floor. The form… stood…

Keelah… That did not look like the creepers from before…

It looked like a copy of an asari, though a very bad one. Odd growths covered its form, which actually allowed to be decent in public. Its eyes were also sunken hollows, skin green, but it moved with a grace the other creepers lacked. So, this was one of the improved creepers. It approached them. Williams and Wrex kept their assault rifles trained on it.

"More invaders," the asari clone started, "come to stand before the mighty Thorian in awe."

Tali saw Garrus give an unimpressed headshake, but focused on Shepard as he spoke. "The Thorian has taken three of the colonists from the tunnels above. I want them returned unharmed."

"The colonists were given to the Old Growth by Saren. Flesh fairly given in trade," the clone said pointedly. "They will be the base for those who will tend the Long Cycle."

"Trade?" Garrus muttered.

Shepard latched onto that immediately. "You gave something to Saren?" The clone simply fixed him in a hollow stare. "If you give it to me, I might be able to help you."

"With what?" the clone demanded. "The cold ones seek our destruction, sent by Saren to end the Old Growth. Your kind tells naught but lies." The clone looked to another entrance. Several other creepers entered, pulling the colonists with them. All were alive, and all were terrified. "You can only serve as our base." The clone now looked to the walls.

Tali followed its gaze… and saw the strange pink pods around them. Some held ghostly forms, others empty. Of course… If the Thorian was making copies, it had to have something to copy from. It needed somewhere to store these… bases.

The colonists were brought closer to the Thorian's mouth, all begging for help. "Stop!" Shepard yelled, stepping forward. He returned his assault rifle to his back, arms out. "Listen! If you do this, others will come and destroy you. We stopped the geth, and we have no quarrel with you. But if you don't stop NOW, that will change."

The clone watched him as he approached the Thorian mass, but did not move to stop him. "You are mere meat, only fit to dig or decompose."

Shepard sighed. "I was hoping you wouldn't say that." His hands slowly dropped to his sides… landing on a pair of grenades. He grabbed them, armed them, and leapt high. One hand grabbed onto one of the Thorian's mouth tendrils.

The other shoved the grenades deep in its mouth.

He managed to break free, landing in a crouch and charging to slam into the creepers holding the colonists hostage. One creeper was sent over the walkway's edge, plummeting into the darkness below.

The team responded, Williams and Wrex leveling their assault rifles at another pair of charging creepers and opening fire. Garrus covered the tunnel behind, while Tali and Alenko moved to support Shepard. The asari clone acted as well, dark energy boiling around it as it formed a barrier around itself.

The clone was a biotic? How? Weren't amps required to harness those abilities? How was the Thorian able to beat that limitation?

Wrex pulled his shotgun, aiming it one handed at the clone and pulling the trigger. The clone was staggered, but did not fall. A second blast took down its barrier. The third split it head in two.

Shepard managed to pull his shotgun as well, taking on creepers close range as Tali and Alenko arrived. The three surrounded the colonists, keeping the creepers at bay with shotguns and pistols as they moved along the pathways and to the door.

The Thorian's screams filled the air. Its mouth was blown apart, the creature unable to either take the colonists or create more creepers, but it was still alive. Tali stole a glance to the levels above. Other creepers were already moving down to meet them. She was certain she spotted another asari clone… Either it had made more before their arrival, or there was another orifice through which the Thorian made its creepers.

They pulled back to the doorway, Shepard shouting his orders. "Garrus. Get the colonists to the surface. Everyone else, on me. Wrex, Ashley, you're with me on perimeter. We're moving up." He pointed upward to where a cluster attached to the wall. "Kaidan, Tali, those are your targets. Shoot them out, we'll take this thing down."

But it was a living being… Did they have to kill it? Was there no other way?

The varren…

The varren were living beings. They'd had no choice but to defend against the immediate threat.

The Thorian… They might be able to flee, but the colonists would still be at risk. They HAD to do something.

Tali tightened her grip around her pistol, nodding to Shepard and trying to show more confidence than she felt.

He'd thrown himself at the creepers. He'd risked his life to get close enough to the Thorian to ensure his grenades hit the mark. Who else among the team had considered that act? Who else could have?

The Migrant Fleet could use a captain like Shepard.

"Let's move out, people."

The team formed up, shotguns at the side with Alenko and Tali at center. They moved as one, heading into the passages surrounding the Thorian. Almost immediately, the creepers were on them. Blast after blast served to form a perimeter around them, allowing the two inside to aim their pistols at the first anchoring cluster. Both opened fire, their slugs tearing through the Thorian's flesh until it finally broke free.

Once more, the Thorian howled in pain.

Tali had to admit to feeling guilt with each pull of the trigger. Even if it was a threat, the idea of causing such pain to another being tore through her like their bullets through the clusters. But still, the mission continued. They moved along the passages, shooting tendrils clear of the wall while the others gave cover.

After blasting another creeper apart, Williams looked back over her shoulder to Alenko. "Hey, LT, was this ever part of your zombie plan?"

Tali resisted the urge to stare at Williams with head tilted. Zombie plan?

She heard Alenko chuckle. "Can't say it was. I figured I'd rely more on this." A swirl of dark energy coalesced around his arm, turned into a throwing force at several nearby creepers.

The running battle continued. It became a blur of action as Tali simply leveled her pistol at the next anchoring cluster and willed herself to pull the trigger. Willed herself to ignore the Thorian's howls. To ignore even the creepers around her as the team kept her and Alenko covered.

They reached the final level. The last few clusters had broken apart faster, more strain on them as the Thorian tried to keep from falling. Before them were the few remaining creepers, at their center another asari clone. Almost immediately, dark energy started to boil around it, forming into a massive sphere of energy the clone launched at the team. "Move!" Shepard yelled, forcing the team to scatter. The blast passed between them. Tali rolled onto her knee, pistol crosshair landing on the cluster. She opened fire as the others concentrated on the clone.

The final round… The final cluster broke free.

The Thorian gave one final protracted howl, one that became progressively more quiet as it fell, slamming into the walls of the tunnel as it plummeted.

The creepers were stopped. The Thorian was stopped. The colony was saved.


	17. Chapter 17

_Well, ended up giving this an extra week for refinement, but that was a good thing. __**Stickki**__once again provided excellent help with the tweaking, pointing out areas I needed to expand on. (And finally convinced me to do a scene break rather than try to connect everything together. Sometimes, it just doesn't work.)_

_Oh, something I want to make a note on. As times, you might notice I hit a bit more of the basics; stuff that anyone who has played the game knows. Thing is, I'm writing this to be approachable by folks who haven't. (Folks like my sister, who honestly haven't had the chance to play but want to read the story regardless.) I'll try to add little additions to them, keep it from being a direct copy from the game. Hopefully it'll work._

_**Mr. Martin:**__ Somehow, asking about the zombie plan just fit. ::Smiles.:: _

_**Grimlock3:**__ Good points all. I'm still plotting out the exact progressing, Tali interacting with the others. Ash is in the plans, of course. Just need to work out the specific details. And I figured the fast drop concept helped clarify Eden Prime as well. Always good to get more mileage with ones ideas, right?_

_**To Both of Ya: **__I understand what you mean. Jeong was a pretty serious ass, and did get what was coming to him. (I prefer leaving him alive for the principle of the thing.) However, with my change to the plot, killing him no longer made sense. He wasn't looking to kill the colonists in this version, so there was no longer reason to kill him. Still, I DO understand._

_This week work starts getting more busy, so we'll see what happens to the schedule. Progress does continue, however. Until the next one!_

_Disclaimer: Mass Effect is owned by BioWare. I'm only borrowing it for a story, and make no claims to it._

_

* * *

_

"Everyone all right?"

Tali drew in a deep breath through her mouth, releasing it through her nose as she returned her pistol to her hip. She heard the responses of those around her; Wrex's grunt, Alenko's 'Aye, Commander', and Williams's 'Good to go, Skipper'. Tali felt a hand on her shoulder, turning to see Shepard standing over her. Tali nodded. "I'm all right." With that, she returned to her feet.

Before anyone could offer a course of action, Alenko spoke. "Commander! Look!"

All eyes were drawn to the wall, to one of the pink pods. It was darkening, distending. Suddenly it broke, spilling its contents on the ground… including a body. An asari, in some kind of armored bodysuit, slammed into the stone. There was something covering her face, a fleshy mass connected to the pod by a cord, which she realized as her eyes shot open. Before the others could get to her, both hands went to the cord, pulling it free. It had been down her throat as well.

It had likely been keeping her alive, until the Thorian's death, that is.

Shepard knelt by the asari as she coughed to try clearing her throat. "Just breathe," he said, "you're all right."

The asari managed a shuddering breath, giving several more heavy coughs as her breathing started to steady. "I'm free," she finally said, as if in disbelief. She looked up at Shepard, then looked to the others. "I assume you're the ones to thank for that."

"Glad to help," Shepard replied. He stood, offering a hand and helping the asari back to her feet. "How'd you wind up in there?"

"I…" She looked between the team members, arms crossed over her chest. Tali was not an expert in asari body language, but she was certain the asari was nervous. "It's a long story."

Shepard nodded. "I'm Commander John Shepard, _SSV Normandy_."

"Shiala B'norin," the asari replied. "And… I already know who you are."

"How…" Alenko stepped forward, removing his helmet. Tali could see his brow creased in thought. "The trade. You…"

Shiala nodded. "I was a follower of Matriarch Benezia. When she allied herself with Saren, so did I."

The reaction was instantaneous. Williams brought her rifle to her shoulder, as if expecting Shiala to lash out at them any moment. Shepard seemed more wary as well, but held up a hand to stop Williams. "You 'were' a follower," he noted.

Again, Shiala nodded. "Benezia started watching Saren years ago, when he started to gain fame in the Spectres. She learned of his plans and thought to influence him, to guide him down a less destructive path. She gave all her followers a choice, if we were to continue following her or leave. I believed in her goals. I stayed."

"But what happened?" Tali asked. "How did her plan go wrong?"

"We underestimated his… charisma." Shiala sighed, shaking her head. "Over time, Benezia and I came to believe in his goals. We… lost our way."

"Lost your way?" Williams sounded incredibly skeptical, her rifle still shouldered though no longer pointed directly at Shiala. "What's THAT supposed to mean?"

"Saren's ship," Shiala replied, "is unlike anything I've ever seen. It can… dominate minds. Bend others to Saren's will."

Tali's head tilted slightly. That was a… serious claim to make. "Saren's ship can control minds?" Tali asked.

"But asari matriarchs are supposed to be some of the most powerful beings in the galaxy…" Alenko shook his head, trying to understand. "How could it happen?"

Shiala looked to him. "The process was subtle. Truthfully, I didn't know how… indoctrinated I'd become until now. But however _Sovereign_ did it, it worked. We became willing slaves. When he gave me to the Thorian, I said nothing of it. Did nothing to stop it. I just… did."

Shepard removed his helmet as well. Tali could see… sympathy in his eyes. He believed Shiala, or wanted to, at least. Or, like with Jeong, he was playing a bluff to accomplish his goals.

So… was he playing the 'good cop' now?

Was she supposed to switch roles as well?

Shepard took the last steps to Shiala, reaching out to grasp her shoulder, to try to give her some sort of support. "The… thrall," Shepard started, "said something about a trade. What did the Thorian give Saren?"

Shiala looked at Shepard. The contact seemed to help calm her. "The Cipher."

"The Cipher?" Shepard repeated, waiting for Shiala's nod. "What is that?"

"It's… a key," Shiala replied. "Saren knows you accessed the beacon on Eden Prime. He knows you likely had the same vision he had." Again, the vision. Tali made a mental note to ask about that when they got back to the _Normandy_. "But those visions were meant for a Prothean mind. They wouldn't make sense to you. The Cipher is, essentially, the Prothean genetic memory. It can give you the viewpoint you need to make sense of the vision."

"And the Thorian had this knowledge?" Shepard asked.

"Yes." She looked to the open space which had once supported the Thorian. "The Thorian was here for thousands of years. It watched the Protheans when they lived here, and it absorbed them when they died. Their knowledge joined its own."

"Can you give me this knowledge?"

Shiala nodded. "The Thorian passed the knowledge to me. I transferred that knowledge to Saren. I can transfer that knowledge to you."

Williams shot a glance at Shepard. "Skipper, you sure that's such a good idea? She WORKED with Saren. We can't trust her!"

"What choice do we have?" Shepard replied.

Williams DID have a point. It would have been a perfect gambit by Saren, leaving behind one to sabotage their efforts. There was no telling what this asari might be capable of. But Tali could see an… earnestness about her. Quarians had to know body language well. It was one of the few ways they had to express themselves. Some things crossed species.

And Shepard was right. They had little other choice.

Shiala stepped to him, slowly. Williams brought her rifle up again. "Back off, asari."

"Chief! Stand down!" Shepard turned to her, placing a hand on her rifle and shoving it downward. "We're doing this. If something bad happens, THEN you can shoot her." Without waiting for a response, and without seeing Alenko step forward to ensure his order was carried out, Shepard turned back to Shiala.

"Try to relax, Commander," Shiala said. "Slow, deep breaths. Let go of your physical shell." Shiala reached out, holding both of Shepard's arms. "Reach out to grasp the threads that bind us, one to another." She locked her eyes with his. "Every action seconds ripples across the galaxy. Every idea must touch another mind to live. Each emotion must mark another's spirit." Tali could see a ghost of a smile cross her features. "We are all connected. Every living being united in a single, glorious existence." Shiala closed her eyes. "Open yourself to the universe, Commander." Her eyes snapped open, now solid black. "Embrace eternity!"

Shepard's eyes snapped wide for an instant, then started to flicker. Open, shut, open, eyes rolling into his head. Williams again tried to bring her rifle in line, only to be held back by Alenko.

What was happening to him? Was this the data transfer? Was the asari doing something to him? Tali couldn't know, but suddenly… she was agreeing with Williams. She wanted that asari to release Shepard and for him to give that confident smile and say everything was all right.

She found her hand slowly moving to her pistol.

But moments later, Shepard's eyes regained clarity. He shook his head as if to clear his mind.

Tali moved without thinking, coming to Shepard's side and trying to see his face. Williams had finally pushed past Alenko, moving to check on Shepard as well. "Skipper? You okay?"

Shepard nodded, rubbing his eyes. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" Tali asked. Why did she suddenly feel so concerned? Why had she become so pushy?

He finally peaked out from behind one hand, a smile returning to his lips. "I'm sure, Tali."

The relief she felt at that… the sudden rush of warmth… It surprised her in its strength. Where did THAT come from?

Shiala had moved several steps back. After seeing Shepard was well, she spoke again. "It's done. It will take time for you to understand, for your mind to process all that you have been given, but it will come."

Alenko joined them, his voice showing he shared the same concern as Tali and Williams. "What happened?"

Shepard sighed. "What she showed me…" He looked up at Shiala. "She's right. It'll take time to work through."

"You're looking pretty rough, Commander," Alenko said, stepping over in case Shepard suddenly collapsed. "Maybe we should get you back to the _Normandy_."

He looked to Alenko, giving a slow nod, then turned back to Shiala. "So, what will you do now?"

Shiala closed her eyes again, sighing deeply. "It was bonding with me that gave the Thorian the idea of taking living examples from which to make thralls. And, my giving Saren the Cipher that convinced him the Thorian… and the colony… needed to die. This colony has suffered because of me." Her eyes reopened. "I want to make amends. If you will allow it, I would stay here and help them rebuild."

"Me?" Shepard asked. "Why are you making it my call?"

"Most would say what I did, what I allowed to happen, was criminal. Even if I was being influenced… I should not be held blameless." Her gaze drifted toward the floor. "You rescued me. I think you should decide what happens to me."

Shepard was silent for a moment, considering. His eyes flicked to the other team members, but not for long enough to get their opinions. He seemed to be reminding himself of what each would say. Though they did linger on Tali for a moment.

Was he asking for her opinion? She was, after all, something of an unknown factor.

Well… What did she think about Shiala?

To Tali, the asari seemed genuine. It seemed she'd been true to her word and given Shepard this Cipher… whatever help it might be. Could Shiala be trusted? Did she really want to help, or was she just looking for escape? Either option was possible.

But the body language… There were some things which were difficult to hide. Something in Tali's mind screamed that this asari was speaking the truth. That she really did want to help.

To Shepard, Tali gave a very slight nod. The moment she did, his eyes left her.

"Zhu's Hope is going to need all the help it can get," Shepard finally said. "The final call should be theirs… but I think they'd be willing to accept you."

"Thank you, Commander," Shiala replied with a slight bow of her head. "I will speak with them, seek their forgiveness." Slowly, as to not provoke the on-edge Williams any further, Shiala stepped away from the group and walked away, heading back along the path to the colony.

Once she was out of earshot, Williams removed her helmet and looked to the others. "Skipper, you sure that was a good idea?"

"I hope so," he replied. "If not, I won't stop you next time."

The team formed up, making their way back to Zhu's Hope. Tali looked between the others on their way, eyes finally landing on Shepard. He was taking such risks… Charging the Thorian and its creepers, allowing the asari to transfer that… Cipher, whatever it was. All to complete their mission, to save as many as he could.

And when he'd looked to her… Had he really been asking her opinion? She'd been a member of his crew for scant days. Could he really value her opinion already?

The question would have to wait, however. Until they were back on the _Normandy_, she would share Alenko and Williams's concerns about the Commander's condition.

Besides, as they walked through the tunnels other questions came to her mind. The rush she'd felt… She could understand the relief. Her commander had been in an… unknowable situation. He could have been killed, or simply had his brain scrambled. Seeing he was all right, then, was cause for relief.

But to have felt it so strongly, and the rush she'd felt at seeing his smile… She didn't understand that. It wasn't something she'd felt before. Why did she feel it for Shepard?

Tali had seen a number of positive traits she wished she could see in all ship captains of the Migrant Fleet. She admired his bravery, his passion to see the mission completed. His care for the well being of others, even if that was hidden under the 'bad cop' guise.

And he was actually quite handsome, for an alien.

But he was her commander, and a human. The former dictated their relationship remain professional. The latter, that anything else would be friendship and nothing more.

That is, if Shepard saw anything in her other than her skills, her knowledge of the geth, what she could bring to the mission.

From their conversations, though, and how he'd treated her… He DID see her as a sentient being. He seemed free of the preconceptions held by the other Citadel races.

Tali was still learning who Shepard really was. Maybe his thoughts would become clear, in time.

They returned to the colony, quickly seeing that the three former hostages were recovering well from their experience. Garrus quickly rejoined the group, giving a quiet gripe about missing out on the fun. Shepard promised to bring him along next time.

Fai Dan spoke with Shepard, giving sincere thanks from himself and from every other person in the colony for everything Shepard and his people had done. The Marines had actually solved a number of the colony's survival issues, from water to power to food. Shepard was glad to hear it, and was glad to hear that the colony would survive. The Baynham's even reported, after their group arrived at the colony, that ExoGeni would be taking a more active role in the future of Zhu's Hope. Things looked very promising.

The geth attack had been stopped, Saren's mission there uncovered, and new information had been gleaned. Their task on Feros was done. The time had come to move on. "Ash, Kaidan, go grab the Thresher and Mako and meet us at the _Normandy_. Everyone else, with me." Bidding the colonists one last farewell and good luck, Shepard led the team back toward the docking bay.

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With Thresher and Mako nestled back in _Normandy's_ cargo bay, Shepard had given the order to lift off. The humans changed out of their armor, and the team met in _Normandy's_ FTL comm room, which doubled as their conference room. "So, we got off to a good start," Shepard started, "but we've got a long way to go."

Alenko spoke next. "Any more luck sorting out the Cipher, Commander?"

Shepard shook his head. "Not yet. I'll give it more time to sort out, see if it'll unwind on its own."

"We've still got that scientist we can go look for," Alenko pointed out. "If she's got enough experience with Protheans, she might be able to help."

"Another asari," Williams said. "If her mother really is working with Saren, what do you think the chances are she'd work for him, too? We put her into an 'us or her' decision, I doubt she'll go against her mother."

"We'll have to wait until we find her to know," Shepard replied. "I'll have Joker plot a course for the Artemis Tau cluster, last place we know the Doctor has been. Any comments?"

Tali wasn't sure if it was the right time for that particular comment, but she spoke up, regardless. "Commander, if it's not too far out of our way, we might want to look into what happened to the _Majesty_."

Shepard nodded. "Agreed. We can search there on the way. Anything else?" No one else spoke up. "Dismissed."

The team stood, shuffling to the door. Joker spoke up over the intercom, asking if Shepard wanted to report to the Council. Curious as she was about what might be said, Tali did not remain. There would be some downtime before their arrival, and she wanted to ensure the geth kinetic barrier generator was truly harmless.

She headed to her quarters, allowing the dedicated decontamination unit to clean her suit before she started her work. She'd set up the room's desk as a workbench, of sorts, with her fine work tools spread out over a work pad. The generator slipped easily from her suit's pocket, landing at the work pad's center.

As she started, all concerns slipped away. Saren, the geth, the mission, all faded in favor of the work before her. From the initial checks for tracking devices, to cracking the casing, to in depth analysis. THIS was what she enjoyed, working with technology. Seeing how a new system worked and what she might be able to do with it.

And, seeing as this was destined to go to her father, she needed to learn all she could in a short period of time.

Hours passed, and by the time she finished putting the last piece back together she had a good amount of data to sift through and the start of a few good ideas.

A rumbling of her stomach, however, told her that the development could wait.

She cleaned up the workspace, grabbed a tube of nutrient paste, and started for the door.

Few were out and about at that hour. Those who weren't on-duty were in _Normandy's_ sleeper pods. Tali walked to the crew's mess table, took a seat, and started preparing the paste tube. Portions would pass through a port in her helmet's outer seal, be decontaminated, then passed through the inner seal to be consumed.

Maybe not the dining experience most sentient beings enjoyed, but her people had long learned to accept it.

As the first glob of paste started its journey through her suit, a figure appeared across the table from her. She looked up to find… "Shepard."

"Good evening, Tali," he greeted with a smile. Shepard had a tray in his hand, several items of food upon it. "Mind if I join you?"

The rush, the warmth, returned. It felt the same as before, and just like then she did not understand what they were, where they were from. Right then, however, was hardly the time to analyze. "Umm… Sure!"

Nice way to cover, Tali…

He took the seat across from her, stirring a bowl of small yellow bead-like things. "How are you holding up?"

"I'm fine, Shepard, really." Her suit finished processing the paste, delivering it to her mouth. Wonderful timing… She quickly grabbed it with her teeth and swallowed it down. "Sorry… Anyway, that wasn't my first ever firefight." Though it was certainly the longest running one she'd been in.

"True." He paused a moment, thinking. "While I don't know much about your people's Pilgrimage, though I'd like to, I'm curious, I'm pretty sure it's not the same thing as going to war." Tali looked at him for a moment, but finally had to nod in agreement. "I don't want you to feel like you HAVE to fight. You've already given us great intel on the geth, and from what I hear Adams loves having you in Engineering."

Tali had to smile at that, giving her standard light chuckle. "Shepard, when I signed on for this mission, I agreed to do whatever was needed. I can't say I enjoy fighting, not like Wrex seems to, but I knew what might happen." She looked up again, trying to find his eyes with hers. "I want to help, Shepard. I want to be useful. To me, that means not cowering behind the others when things get tough."

Shepard nodded to that. "I understand, Tali." He gave a small smile. "Glad to have you on the crew."

"Thanks." Tali felt her face start to warm, and was suddenly glad for the opaque face shield. She wanted to say something, fill the sudden silence, but she knew if she started talking it would turn into mere babble; her long held defense mechanism when nervous. There were so many things she wanted to ask about… What happened with Fist, what the vision was all about… But something clouded her mind. Whatever it was she'd felt before… and was feeling now…

Thankfully, Shepard spoke up first. "We never got a chance to finish that chat." Tali's head rocked to one side. Shepard smiled, apparently recognizing the gesture of confusion. "Back in Udina's office, I wanted to ask about the Pilgrimage. We didn't have time then. Think we do now?"

"Oh!" Having the question to focus on cleared her mind, at least for that moment. "Sure!" She took a moment to get her thoughts in line, then launched in. "The Pilgrimage is our coming of age," she started. "Much as we try to be self sufficient, some resources are scarce on the flotilla. Each member of the fleet must do their part to support the whole, not be an extra burden. As a part of that, as we reach adulthood, we leave our birthships. We each search for something of value. Sometimes it's specific, other times we just look. Once we find it we return to the fleet and seek acceptance on another ship."

Shepard nodded. "Makes sense. Keeps people moving around the flotilla. Maintains your genetic diversity as much as possible." He paused a moment, as if considering his next question. "What are you searching for?"

Should she tell him? She was on his crew, now, and there should be no secrets between shipmates. Still… she didn't know if he'd understand… Maybe not the full story, but something close to it? "Anything about the geth," she replied. "We know little about what they've become since they drove my people into exile. Anything we learn could help us one day regain our homeworld."

"Well…" Shepard chuckled. "Looks like you signed on to the right ship. I'd say we've got good odds of going up against geth pretty frequently while we're hunting Saren."

"Speaking of that," Tali said, seeing a perfect opportunity and finally able to cut through the nerve induced haze, "what was that vision Shiala was talking about?"

Shepard leaned back in his chair. "It happened on Eden Prime. The colonists had dug up a Prothean beacon, a working one. We were heading in to grab it, get it to the Citadel for study." He paused a moment. "Had a Spectre on board named Nihlus. He was there to watch how I did, see if I was a good candidate."

"Saren got in the way of that, though, didn't he?"

Shepard nodded. "Yeah. He dropped down in that ship… _Sovereign_. Killed Nihlus, nearly destroyed the entire colony. We stopped him, though; me, Ashley, and Kaidan. Called the _Normandy_ in for the pickup, but Ashley got too close to the beacon. It activated, nearly pulled her in. I got to her in time, threw her clear…"

Tali gave a slow nod. "And the beacon pulled you in instead."

"Exactly," Shepard replied. "It beamed a message in my head, the vision. The Protheans being killed by the Reapers."

"But you don't know the details." It was more statement than question.

"Yeah. Kinda hoping this Cipher helps fix that, but nothing's sorted out yet."

Another figure appeared, setting a tray beside Shepard's. "You'll figure it out, Shepard. After the Blitz, I doubt a little brain lock will stop you." Tali and Shepard looked to the newcomer, seeing Alenko standing there with a smile. "May I?"

"Of course, Kaidan," Shepard replied, gesturing to the chair beside him. He looked at Alenko's tray. "You should try the corn," he said, stirring the bowl of yellow things again.

Corn? Tali made yet another mental note to read up on that.

"Next time," Alenko replied. "How are you two?"

"Other than the aforementioned brain lock," Shepard said, "doing fine."

Tali gave a nod as she swallowed the next mouthful of paste. "I'm all right, Lieutenant."

Alenko chuckled as he finished stirring what Tali guessed was a salad. "No need for the formality, Tali. Call me Kaidan."

Tali chuckled back, indication of her smile. "All right, Kaidan."

After swallowing another spoonful of corn, Shepard spoke again. "So, what do you guys think about that last mission?"

"I'm glad there aren't many aliens like the Thorian," Kaidan replied with a smirk, setting a hand on his midsection. "I don't think my stomach could take it." Mock queasiness notwithstanding, he took another bite of his meal.

"We helped save that colony," Tali said. "It felt good to be a part of that." She gave a light chuckle. "And, in hindsight, it was fun watching you shout at that bureaucrat."

Kaidan chuckled as well. "I heard you two talking over the comms. Wish I could've seen you play him like that."

"I'd just as soon avoid corporate politics for the rest of this mission, thank you very much." Shepard threw back the last of his water, then stood and started policing his tray. "Joker says we'll be near the _Majesty's_ position in about 7 hours. Might want to get some sleep before then."

"Will do, Commander," Kaidan replied.

"See you later," Tali said in her usual farewell as Shepard departed. She looked to Kaidan as the door to his quarters slid open. "The Blitz?"

"Skyllian Blitz," Kaidan clarified. "It was the name given to a major attack on one of our colonies, Elysium. Pirates, slavers, the usual bad lot with batarian funding."

Tali nodded her understanding. "And Shepard was there?"

Kaidan nodded. "He was on leave between assignments, just visiting, when the attack happened. Elysium's one of our older colonies, a few years after Eden Prime was established, and it seemed pretty well secure. Had top notch anti-air defenses, and the marines stationed there thought that would be enough. They were wrong."

He leaned forward, pushing the remainder of his meal aside as he spoke. "The first strike was a complete surprise. Smashed a lot of the main defensive lines. We lost a lot of people. But Shepard? He got what armor he could find, grabbed a rifle, and started rallying… anyone. The remaining marines, any civilians who would carry a weapon."

"But how did they do it?" Tali asked. "Even if they were just pirates, they had to have some kind of heavy support to make an attack like that."

"And they did," Kaidan replied. "Wouldn't commit aerial forces until the turrets were taken out, so they massed ground units; troops and vehicles. Thing is, the route they used took them through a somewhat narrow pass. Shepard figured out a plan. He had marines man whatever heavy weapons they could pull up there, had the civilians give them cover. When the attack came…" One hand, in a fist, hit the other, open palm. "Rocket fire took out their vehicles, caused a fair amount of chaos in their lines."

"Good," Tali said. "Even the odds."

"For a bit, at least." Kaidan gave a light sigh. "The pirates countered. Took out most of the remaining marines. Pressed in and managed to drive most of the civilians out. The ones that didn't run were cut down."

Tali sighed as well. Obviously Shepard had gotten out of it all right… "What about Shepard?"

"He didn't stop," Kaidan said. "He grabbed the closest rifle and kept fighting. Held the pirates back until reinforcements could get to him. By the time we got there, he had a half dozen assault rifles around him. He'd put so many rounds through them, built up so much heat, that their internals were fused."

Tali's head tilted ever so slightly. "He fought off the attack singlehandedly?"

"Damn near. He downplays it, most of the time, but if he hadn't held his ground I doubt Elysium would still be standing." Kaidan finally leaned back in his chair. "He got the Star of Terra for it; highest honor the Alliance military has."

Tali nodded appreciatively. "That's… I can see why made him a Spectre…" She looked up at him. "Wait… You said 'when we got there'. Were you at Elysium?"

Kaidan nodded. "I was with the reinforcements. When he saw our shuttles coming down, he started fighting even harder. Actually built up some momentum, pushed the pirates back so we could land. I ran support, helped the guys who charged the attackers. I ended up going high, getting to Shepard. He'd been hit pretty hard, but he was still pushing. Still wanted to fight."

"What did you do?" Tali asked.

Kaidan chuckled. "What do you think I did? I got some medigel, patched him up as best as I could, and stuck with him to make sure he didn't keel over. We stuck together for three days pushing the raiders off. Worked pretty well together."

"Did you continue working together after that?"

"No," he said, shaking his head. "We were in different units, so once the fighting was done we shook hands and went our separate ways." He smiled. "Then, about three months ago, I got word I was being requested by Captain Anderson for the _Normandy_. He'd asked Shepard who'd be a good choice to lead the Marine detail, and Shepard pointed at me."

Tali smiled back, giving her light chuckle. "Are you happy with that?"

Kaidan nodded. "Yeah, I am. _Normandy's_ a great ship, and we've got good people on her. And it's good to work with Shepard again. But speaking of working…" He started to police his tray. "We've got a mission in the morning. Sleep would be a good idea."

"Agreed," Tali replied. With no tray to collect, she simply stood as Kaidan did. "Good night, Kaidan."

"Good night, Tali."


	18. Chapter 18

_At long last, I get to prove that I'm not dead!_

_Recently, time and energy have allowed me to get back into writing. I still have other obligations that will take my time, but I wanted to get what progress I've been able to make on-line for anyone still wanting to read this._

_A few notes:_

_First: I've got a couple chapters done now, which both go up now. I've got a few more days to get more up before life carries me off for another few months, during which I'll be trying to finish up this project._

_Second: These haven't been beta read. I'm sure there are minor flaws here and there that I missed, but I've been trying to keep true to the style you've seen so far. I'll take any comments I get and update these chapters as I can, but it might be a few months before they get on-line._

_Third: Before I vanish again, I'll be posting updates and fixes to several chapters. I'll note which ones once they're up._

_Other than that, I hope folks continue to enjoy this story. This project has not been abandoned. It's taken a body blow, but it's rebuilding a bit of momentum._

_And, as always, Mass Effect, its story, and its characters are owned by BioWare._

* * *

The door to Tali's quarters opened, the quarian exiting with a groan. Too bright… She increased the tinting of her face shield, keeping her eyes open and pressing on. She wanted to be a part of this crew, after all. Do her part to help the mission succeed. It was important. That meant getting to her post… even if she wanted to just get back into her quarters, curl up somewhere dark, and sleep.

Why did the humans have to stick with their own esoteric time systems? Did they not know the rest of the civilized galaxy used a coordinated time system, based on the Citadel? Even her own people, traditionalists as they were, had adopted it after their exile. The galaxy had enough against them with that happened to the geth. Being seen as tardy to scheduled events was something they didn't need.

The elevator finished its slow descent, opening to the cargo bay. She spotted Garrus, once more working on the Mako and Thresher. He looked up as the elevator opened, mandibles opening slightly in a smile. "Good morning, Tali'Zorah."

"Good morning, Garrus," she replied. Or rather, she attempted to reply. Even to her ears, the words were slurred to the point of near incomprehension.

That seemed to amuse Garrus, who gave a light chuckle as he pushed himself to his feet and walked over. "You all right?"

"Fine," she said. She didn't try to cover up her continued fatigue.

"Let me guess," Garrus started, "you never reset your body clock after getting here, did you?"

"You did?" Tali asked. Garrus nodded. Tali's head tilted as her eyebrow rose. "How did you pull that off? I'm still trying to see the logic behind their time system."

"Same as with anywhere else," the turian replied. "Stay up as late as possible, skip a sleep cycle, and catch up to how the locals do it."

Tali sighed. Most places she'd visited used Galactic Standard time. She'd never had to fully reset her internal clock before. "I think it's a little late for me to do that."

"I'm afraid so," Garrus said, placing his hand on her shoulder. "You'll get there, though. Just might take a little longer."

"I hope so… Between the strange hours and the difficulty staying asleep…"

Now Garrus's head tilted. "Why? What's wrong?"

Tali waved him off. "Nothing serious. Just comparing the _Normandy_ to the Migrant Fleet." Not wanting to dwell on home, she thought of a fast subject change. "Something I've been curious about," she started, "why are you here?"

"Here?" Garrus asked. "On the _Normandy_?" Tali nodded. "Well, I was investigating Saren after the attack on the human colony, Eden Prime. I couldn't get anywhere on it, though. Everything I tried to find was classified. After some lucky breaks, and a few hunches, I got to Dr. Michel's clinic. There were some thugs trying to get information out of… her…"

Trailing off like that… What did that mean? Information on what? On… Oh… "Information about me… Right?"

Garrus's head hung for a moment. It was clear he hadn't intended on letting that information out. "Yeah… It turned out okay, though. I snuck close enough that when Shepard walked in, looking for me apparently, it distracted the thugs enough I was able to get the drop on them. Dr. Michel was just fine," he continued, seeming to sense Tali's concern. "Even pointed us in the direction of finding you. When I found out what he was doing, that he had some good leads on Saren, I asked to join him." He held his arms out, gesturing to the ship around them. "And here I am."

"Any regrets?" Tali asked. "Leaving C-Sec, leaving the Citadel?"

"Sometimes," Garrus admitted. "Wish I didn't have to. But taking Saren down is important. Not only is he a threat to the galaxy, but he gives my people a bad name. I'm right where I need to be, helping Shepard take him down. After that…" He shrugged. "Well, we'll worry about that when it comes."

There was a click from the ship's intercom. "Tali'Zorah," Joker's voice came, "please report to CIC."

Another mandible split as Garrus smiled. "Better get moving," he said.

"I'll talk to you later, Garrus." With that, and a final nod, Tali turned and started back to the elevator for the slow trip up.

The more she spoke with Garrus, the more she liked him. She'd picked up a glance or two before suggesting he might carry the same prejudices many nonquarians had, but as they'd worked together he'd started seeing her as a person. It was good to feel like a part of the team.

In fact, many of the people on the _Normandy_ had tried to make her feel at home, there.

Though there were a few exceptions…

Tali had been through CIC a few times, mainly trying to keep pace with the team as they charged for the airlock. This time, though, she was able to pause and take a good look at the place. Long corridor, curved walls, leading to the cockpit. Control area, open, with a galaxy map at its center. A platform, almost like a dais, standing above it. Turian style, or so she had heard, allowing supervisors to look over the people they supervised.

Not the quarian way, but she could see how it might work. Not that she cared to try, or anything.

Shepard stood on the platform, tall and proud over his crew. He turned to look and smile at her as she entered. Somehow, that smile always helped to improve Tali's spirits. Her fatigue was forgotten in moments. "We're about to jump to the system your friend's ship was last seen in. Thought you'd want to join in on the search."

"I would, yes," Tali replied. "Thank you, Shepard."

The ship's intercom activated. "Entering the Strenuus system now, Commander."

"Acknowledged, Joker," Shepard replied. He walked down the platform's ramp, passing by Tali on his way to the cockpit. "You can get to the sensor readouts from that console," he said, gesturing to a segment of the platform's base. Various control panels and displays ran its length. "If you see anything, shout it out."

"Will do, Shepard." He gave a final nod, then started down the long corridor forward. She watched after him for a moment… She'd thought about it the night before, after bidding Kaidan good night. Tali was starting to understand what she was feeling… but no… It couldn't be that. Could it? He was kind, brave. Handsome, for an alien.

Tali killed that line of thinking. He was her commander. He might be a friend… in fact she could probably allow herself to consider him a friend, but that was all. To consider anything else was foolish, selfish… Stupid.

She shook her head to clear her thoughts. There wasn't time to consider such things. There was a ship to find, and a captain to rescue.

Tali had barely known the man, Willem Szilagyi. Simply overhearing a conversation he'd had with an equipment vendor, she'd wound up helping him in repairs and maintenance over many of his ship's systems. Then, on the Citadel, they met the man's brother. Willem's ship was overdue.

Was it malfunction? On the one hand, Tali's pride in her work hoped that wasn't true. She hated thinking she'd missed something, setting Willem up for trouble. But if it wasn't malfunction, the only other possible cause was attack. Neither option left much hope.

But as Tali turned to the console, it became apparent that locating him was not the only challenge she was to face. "Excuse me," she heard.

Tali looked up to see _Normandy's_ mostly bald navigator, Pressly. His expression was… unreadable. "Yes?"

"If you don't mind," he continued, "I'll do that. Just tell me what you want to look for."

To most, that might seem like a kind offer. Help out someone who doesn't understand the local language to get the work done. Something in his voice, though… Tali knew there was more to it. He didn't want some alien working on his systems, regardless of what Shepard said. That disappointment, paired with her exhaustion, stopped her from pushing back. She simply sighed. "Fine," she replied, tiredly. "Look for any recent exhaust trails consistent with a Kowloon class freighter."

"Hmm…" Pressly moved to the console, inputting commands. "Not sure I'll recognize it by class."

"Then bring up any trail you can find," Tali said. "I'll pick it out."

Silence reigned for a time as Pressly worked. While the human knew the equipment better than she, and had proven a competent navigator to that point, his understanding of more… scientific style scanning was lacking. Tali saw no less than three opportunities where she could have jumped in and gotten the readings she wanted immediately.

Sometimes, her quarian diplomacy was more hindrance than help.

But finally, a screen flashed up long enough for her to speak. "There!" She pointed at the screen, at the ribbon heading further in system. "That's the one!"

"Are you sure about that?" Pressly asked. "It's not matching any known configuration. I'd lean more toward that being pirates, slavers, something like that. Especially out here."

Tali turned to glare at him. Or at least it would have been a glare if not for the opaque faceshield. "It's the _Majesty_. I know it."

Thank Keelah, Shepard chose that moment to return from the cockpit. He looked between the pair. "So… Found something?"

Tali looked to him immediately, the fatigue seeming to leave her for at least a moment. "Yes," she said before Pressly could answer. "Exhaust trail leading in system. Based on the work Willem had done to his engines, I'd call it a match for his ship."

"I'm not so sure, sir," Pressly spoke up. "Maybe, with modifications, but there's no real proof it's not just pirates."

Shepard smirked. "Let's check it out. Hopefully, it's him. If not, we beat up on pirates."

"Yes, sir," Pressly replied.

"Shoot the course over to Joker," Shepard ordered. "Tali, shout out if you find anything." Tali nodded. "You know what we're looking for, Tali. I want you at the station." He paused a moment, eyes flicking to Pressly for a moment before he turned and started back toward the cockpit.

It was clear. He'd seen what Pressly had done before. He wasn't going to say anything in front of the crew, which Tali understood, but he still showed his disapproval. Pressly said nothing, simply gesturing toward the console before turning to plot the course for Joker.

Shepard had defended her once again. Tali should have been used to that by now, that he saw her as a valued crewmember and not some blight on his ship. Somehow, it still managed to surprise her.

_Normandy_ quickly came on course, Tali focusing closely on the console before her as she tuned and retuned the ship's sensor array. For a time there was little new, just the exhaust trail being slowly dissipated by the system's solar wind. She did not focus on the visual display, not wanting to be distracted by superfluous information. Then, a blip on the sensors caught her attention. A ship… and debris. Tali looked up, seeing Shepard still in the cockpit next to Joker. She tapped the controls for the local intercom. "Shepard, I think I have it. Sending coordinates."

After a moment, his voice returned. "Good work, Tali. Come on up. Let's see what we've got."

Tali turned from the console and started forward, ignoring the glance she got from Pessly as she passed. For the sake of the crew, she'd ignore what he did. Either he would give up his prejudice, or he wouldn't. There was nothing to be done about it right then.

There was a time she would have gone off sulking over that… Perhaps this was yet another part of the Pilgrimage?

Tali made the long walk toward the cockpit, passing by the pale orange consoles lining either side. She stopped behind Joker, next to Shepard, and watched intently through the viewport. For a long time there was nothing, save the stars in the distance, and objects in the system. Suddenly, Shepard's hand reached out, pointing to the viewport. "There," he said.

A glint caught her eye, drawing her attention to where Shepard pointed. "I see it too." The ship, hauntingly familiar. Tali grasped Joker's chair, feeling her heart sink into her stomach. "That's her, the Majesty."

She heard Shepard sigh as he looked to Kaidan. "Do you have anything?"

"Not much," Kaidan replied. "A lot of debris. Someone took some decent level weaponry to her." He paused, shaking his head. "No life signs."

Shepard shook his head as well, though kept watching the debris. "Tali," he finally said, "you used ion trails to get us here. Any chance you could find another that'll lead us on further?"

Tali nodded. "It's worth a try. I may not be able to identify any other ships, but I might be able to give a general direction."

"Better than nothing," Shepard replied. "See what you can do."

Kaidan got up from his station, gesturing for Tali to take his place. Giving him a grateful nod, she slid behind the console and started tapping controls. "Hmm… There are more ion trails nearby in various states of decay. The newest few… intersect Majesty's perfectly.

Shepard nodded. It seemed he could see what she saw. Or he simply believed that she saw what she said she saw. "What else?"

"Those traces…" Tali's finger ran back to the world. "Returned here. Might be the location of their base."

Kaidan turned to a side console, pulling up planetary data. "Pretty inhospitable down there, Commander," he noted. "Very low temperature, ice storms everywhere." Kaidan looked up. "Just the sort of place folks would go to hide."

"Then that's where we're going," Shepard replied. "Kaidan, figure out where on that rock they're hiding, then grab the team and saddle up. Joker, once Kaidan feeds you that location, find us a good drop zone south of it." He then looked to Tali with a smile. "Let's go get your friend."

Tali smiled back. "Thank you, Shepard."


	19. Chapter 19

The team gathered in the cargo bay, Shepard leading the final briefing. "All right. We're going in after a captive civilian freighter captain. Status unknown. Initial scan of their base shows several ground defense turrets, but nothing we shouldn't be able to handle. No telling what's inside the base itself, though."

"Compared with what we just took on," Williams said, "I'm pretty sure we can handle it."

Shepard smiled. "I agree, but we'll be smart about it." He looked to Kaidan. "Kaidan, you and Garrus take Thresher. Scout on ahead after we land, make sure what we see on the ground matches what we saw from orbit." Kaidan and Garrus both nodded. "The rest of us will take Mako. Current plan: Hit their base from two directions, take out their defensive turrets, punch a hole in the door. Once we're in, we'll split into two teams. Tali and I will look for the freighter captain. Kaidan, lead the others in a sweep to take out any opposition. Capture if you can."

Kaidan nodded. "What stops them from killing the captive?"

"That's not tough." The group looked to Wrex. "Pirates like these tend to be pretty straight forward. If they think you're worth something, ransom goes out immediately. If not, they hold on to you until they figure out how to make money off you." He looked over to Tali and Shepard. "The guy you talked to. Did he get a ransom?"

Tali shook her head. "Not that he mentioned."

"Then the guy they grabbed isn't a priority," Wrex replied. "Better for us. We hit 'em hard, keep 'em focused on us, and they'll be too distracted to kill him." He shrugged. "Unless they just killed him when they grabbed him."

The rush of joy followed by the hollow thunk… Kaidan said exactly what Tali was thinking. "Well, Wrex, you managed to get our hopes up then dash them in a span of five seconds. Good job."

Wrex shrugged. "It's a skill."

"All right, guys," Shepard said. "Any questions?" There were none. "Then let's get to this."

The group split into their two teams, each heading for a vehicle. Curiosity finally got the better of Tali. "If there's no dock for the Normandy, then how do we get the vehicles down. Fast drop like on Feros?"

"Nope," Shepard replied. "No need. Both Mako and Thresher are designed to be dropped to a target."

"Dropped?" Mako HAD, in fact, simply dropped from Normandy's cargo bay to the surface on Feros. But that had been a few dozen feet. "From how far up?"

Shepard opened the hatch, turning back to her to smile. "You'll see." With that, he hauled himself in.

Tali sighed as she followed. "Why do I get a bad feeling about this?"

The team took their usual stations within Mako, Wrex taking a moment to check himself strapped in. Then checking again. New light filled the cabin as Normandy's cargo door swung open. She could see the bright brown of clouds, but could not see the surface.

Oh… THAT far up. "Just out of curiosity, how many times have you actually done this?"

Shepard looked back to her. "Including Feros?"

It was a real drop. It counted. "Sure."

"Once."

"Oh…" Tali triple checked that she was well strapped in.

Thresher lifted off, zipping straight for the open hatch and quickly out of sight. "Here we go," Shepard announced as he started them forward. Tali instinctively grabbed her console tightly. Mako lurched off the ramp…

And she felt nothing. Even as the clouds behind the viewport rocked up and down, she felt nothing. Tali looked back to the console. In those first few seconds, Mako's computer had already figured out what was going on. It had calculated the distance to the surface, launch speed, planet's gravitic acceleration, expected vertical velocity on impact, and expected lateral velocity on impact. It had diverted power to their mass effect core, and had given a recommended series of thruster firings to Shepard. It also unlocked a pair of counterbalance weights in the chassis, sliding them back and forth as necessary to keep them at an optimal angle.

She wondered why the other races seemed to underestimate human technological knowhow.

Shepard fired their thrusters, slowing them as the surface started to come into view. Tali reflexively braced for impact. She noticed Wrex doing the same. Their impact was enough to rock the cabin, but the fully calibrated computer handled it with ease. Mako braked hard, slowing to more manageable speeds as Shepard brought them on course for the pirate's stronghold. "So," Shepard said over his shoulder, "how was it?"

Tali actually felt a little… giddy. "Can we do that again?"

Shepard and Williams both chuckled in reply.

En route, Kaidan's voice came over Mako's communicator. "Got a good look at the base," he started. "Centered around a pre-fab building. We've got four heavy turrets, one per side. Two perches for snipers, and a few folks on foot patrol."

Garrus's voice joined Kaidan's. "They look less like a patrol and more like they're hanging out. Decent odds they're lightly armed, if at all."

Shepard stole a fast glance at a topography map, based on Normandy's scans with updates from Thresher. "Our angle has a good ramp we can run down. Swings us around to take out three of those turrets."

"Leaves the other for us," Kaidan replied. "I saw a good point we can jump from. When our turret turns to try to get you, we'll pounce."

"Sounds like a plan," Shepard said. "Chief?"

"Just give me a target," Williams replied, hands already at the controls.

"Tali?"

Tali smiled. "Kinetic barriers fully charged," she reported.

Shepard slowed Mako as they crested the hill. A box-like building sat at the center of a crater, defenses just as described. Their ramp lay just ahead, the swooping gradient giving them just the approach they were hoping for. "Hang on, back there," Shepard said. "We're going in."

Mako lurched into motion, starting its approach. Defense turrets swung into action, the closest two launching missiles as the people on the ground bolted for cover. This time, Shepard didn't use thrusters to dodge them. These missiles were dumb fired, just sent straight at the target. He simply turned, followed the curvature of the hill, and let the missiles harmlessly pass by. Williams's return volleys had far more effect, two rounds sent through the nearest turrets and detonating it.

Small arms fire ricocheted off Mako's shields, Tali quickly diverting power to shore them up. Another cannon shot from Williams dispatched the defenders, the others turning to flee into the building. It seemed brutal… but more enemy forces taken down outside the structure made their jobs easier on the inside.

It seemed that working with the team had given her a more… pragmatic view about combat.

Williams continued her strikes on the defense turrets, destroying the second one on the third hit. The third quickly joined it.

As the fourth swung around to fire as Mako cleared the building, it was suddenly struck from behind by twin machine gun fire. Thresher leapt from its perch, guns tearing through the turrets armor and shredding its internals. The turret stopped mid swing, its weapon silenced. Thresher turned, another burst of fire taking down the few remaining pirates still outside.

The two vehicles met by the building's door. "Good work, people," Shepard said to the group. "Now, the hard part." With Mako and Thresher's turrets set to automatic, the six gathered before the door. All readied their weapons. Shepard and Kaidan took position by the door. Kaidan had his pistol at his side, omni-tool flaring orange by the door lock. He looked to Shepard as he held his assault rifle to his shoulder. Shepard held up one hand, three fingers extended. He counted down, ending with a balled fist. Kaidan slapped his omni-tool against the lock, and the door sprung open.

Shepard led the charge, firing a burst from his assault rifle as his shields flashed from return fire. Kaidan waved Tali on, the quarian sprinting after the commander and sliding into cover beside him. Kaidan led the second team in, immediately pulling to the left as Tali took a fast look around the building's interior.

They were in a large, two story room. Storage containers from an untold number of attacks littered the main floor. They served as excellent cover, both for the team and for the pirates. There was a ramp along the side of the room heading to a balcony which wrapped around the upper level. She saw two rooms on the far side, upper level. If she were going to hold a hostage… It seemed Shepard thought the same. He looked back to her, then pointed up the ramp. Tali nodded, switching to her pistol. He waved her ahead as he stood, cutting loose with his assault rifle as she sprinted for the next piece of cover. Tali then did the same, covering Shepard with her pistol as he joined her.

A trio of assault rifles joined the fray from the other side of the room as Williams, Garrus, and Wrex all opened fire. The return volley was stopped by a field of purple biotic energy as Kaidan kept them all covered. The heat was immediately drawn away from Shepard and Tali, allowing the pair to charge up the ramp. Tali switched to her shotgun as they reached the top, just in time to see the man crouched in cover with rifle leveled at them. She didn't hesitate.

Shepard and Tali moved quickly and carefully along the balcony, staying low to not draw fire from the pirates still below. They had very little resistance as they arrived at the first upper level room. It was unlocked, and empty. Tali waved them ahead, the pair shifting to the next door. Tali brought her omni-tool to the lock, the tool spinning as it worked to bypass.

The door slid open, Shepard swinging his assault rifle in. One man, probably the leader, popped up from behind a single metal desk. Shepard fired first, shredding the pirate's armor and sending him to the floor. Tali was steps behind him, her eyes drawn to several cages on the other side of the room. "Willem!"

The familiar human captain, looking a little worse for wear, stood with a surprised look on his face. "Tali?"

Tali ran to the cage, finding an old style mechanical lock. "Get back," she said as she drew her shotgun. He very quickly obliged. One shot blasted the lock apart. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah…" He stepped out of the cage, as if in disbelief that he was free. "Gotta say, out of all the possibilities I'd considered for what was going to happen here… this wasn't on the list."

Shepard walked over. "You okay to move?"

"Damn straight," Willem replied.

Shepard jerked his thumb over his shoulder. "Grab a suit. We'll clear the path." Assault rifle ready, Shepard stepped out the door. Fighting still raged below, and Shepard was now in the perfect position to cover his people.

Tali looked back to Willem. "We'll let you know when it's safe." Without waiting for reply, Tali walked over beside Shepard, pistol in hand, and joined him in his attack.

Once, she would have balked at this. She might not even have been able to do it at all. But now, after what she'd seen… and with his example to follow… It was easier. These people attacked indiscriminately. They would have killed all of Shepard's people in a heartbeat. They would have killed Willem, more than likely. For the safety of all, they needed to be stopped. For good.

And once their combined attack was complete, these pirates would never harm anyone again.

Silence fell through the room as Kaidan finally dropped his biotic field. The strike team stepped out into the room, sweeping for any survivors. None had surrendered. Tali leaned back into the room, waving the suited up Willem to follow. He was happy to meet the team, and promised them all that, once he had a ship, he'd gladly haul anything they wanted to any place in the galaxy they wanted, no questions asked. "Though… I'd prefer it if you'd choose something legal."

With the area secure, the team escorted their charge to the Mako. Normandy descended, hovering over the base. After checking that Willem was strapped in, as well as he could be next to the massive krogan, Tali returned to her station. "Brace for lift," Shepard said. Moments later, he punched Mako's thrusters. The vehicle lifted off. Tali saw Normandy's cargo bay slide up past them. Shepard cutting the thrusters once they were enclosed. Mako dropped to the deck, rolling back to a stop in its usual place. Thresher had an easier time, simply rising until level with the cargo bay and jetting in with a burst from its tail thruster.

They reconvened in the cargo bay, Williams pulling off her helmet as she spoke. "So, we have a solid destination, or are we scanning every planet in Artemus Tau?"

Shepard tapped the side of his helmet just before he pulled it off. "I had Joker check the records while we were down there. No solid word on dig sites, so we're looking at going the long way."

The answer came from a surprising source. "What kind of dig?" asked Willem.

Shepard looked to him. "Archeological. Looking for an asari scientist working on a Prothean site."

"Hmm…" Willem scratched his chin. "I don't know if they're Prothean, but I think there's a few dig sites on Therum. I was just out there picking up a load of ore, heard about 'em from the workers there. May not be your asari, but you might get a lead."

"Certainly a start," Shepard replied. "Let's get going."


	20. Chapter 20

_Got a nice meaty chapter for you guys this time. But first, got a couple quick comments._

_First off, saw the review for End of All Things. Serenarey, I do see what you mean. Kinda rushed those parts to get to Shepard explaining what he chose and why, and the story suffered for it. I'll head back through and polish those parts up a tad, repost the story once that's done._

_Second, I've been learning about the Indoctrination Theory for ME3. Yeah, there's no telling if that's what the upcoming DLC will give us, but I think it's a compelling theory. I know a few folks have based ME3 stories on it, and I may look into doing the same. I'll leave up the one I've got, regardless, but you might see another ME3 fic from me after all. Updates as I get them._

_As with the others, this chapter is hot off the presses. See any errors, let me know and I'll make the needed corrections._

_And once more, Mass Effect is owned by BioWare._

* * *

The space around Therum was about as friendly as they'd found in the Strennus system.

Burning debris littered the planet's orbit. Freighters, escort fighters, satellites. At first, Tali wasn't sure why she'd been called back to CIC. Then she saw the sensor reports. Geth energy signatures. Shepard saw her as she entered, waving her to join him at the galaxy map. With a keystroke, it switched to a planet surface view. Red and brown rock, rivers of lava… and several groups of geth. "So," Shepard started, "Willem pointed out the main mining colony in the area." He highlighted it, right in the middle of a geth position. "He couldn't say where the dig sites were, exactly. You're my resident geth expert, so, any ideas how we could get down there without being annihilated?"

"Well, I guess Normandy's stealth systems are working, or else we wouldn't be here." Shepard nodded. "Once we're on the ground, there's not much we can do except be a small target." She looked over the data. "Most of these groups are patrols. Troops. They're far enough that they shouldn't be a problem. Looks like whatever fleet they brought is already gone, except for a few drop ships." Tali was actually surprising herself with what she said. It was all true, but she had never applied her knowledge this way before. "They may be using the mining colony as a base, meaning they'll have fortified it. Given the sizes of the other groups, I'd say this is their only fortification."

Shepard was nodding, looking over the data as she spoke. "And if we take it out, we break their main power. That base looks small enough we could take it with what we've got. Doesn't tell us what dig site to check, though."

"If whoever is digging there registered with the colony, the records might still exist."

He looked to her with a smile. "I'd say we've got a plan."

Tali looked back, confused. "Just like that? Are you sure you don't want to talk to the others? Get another opinion on this?"

"Already had Kaidan and Garrus cycle through. They had a bit more of the overall tactical picture, but they didn't have the geth side of things." He grabbed her shoulder. "I knew you'd have that."

"Well…" Tali smiled. "I'm glad to help."

Shepard gave her shoulder one final pat before he released her, tapping the ship's intercom. "Ground team, muster in the cargo bay." To Tali, he said, "I'll see you down there."

With a chuckle, a bit more nervous than she'd intended, Tali slipped off to the stair to the crew deck. She'd known Shepard valued her opinion. He'd made that clear several times since they'd left the Citadel. But to hear him actually come out and say it… She was valued. Wanted. She'd never truly known that outside the Fleet.

She prayed to Keelah that she never let him down.

The team had gathered in the cargo bay, ready for action when Shepard joined them. "We'll be dropping to a location about three klicks from a mining colony. It's a central location, and it may have records that will help us find our dig site, if it's here. There are geth on world, scattered at a number of sites. The chance of facing geth resistance is high, but most of their heavy units should be gone. Regardless, watch each other and be ready to react to whatever we come across. Any questions?"

"Why would the geth be here?" Garrus asked.

"Might be here for Dr. T'Soni," Kaidan replied. "She IS a Prothean expert, after all. Would make sense to grab her if they're looking for Prothean tech."

"Why would they need to grab her, though?" Garrus continued. "Why not just have her mother call her? Have her go to them?"

"That's assuming they have good comms with the dig sites," Kaidan replied.

"Or she just didn't want to go," Wrex pointed out.

"Probably won't be able to answer that for certain until after we find her," Shepard replied. "Keep thinking up possibilities, and we'll plan out as many as we can."

"What are the chances of survivors?" Williams asked. Tali remembered what Kaidan had told her, that she has lost her squad on Eden Prime when Saren and the geth had attacked. Williams was understandably angry, but had taken it out on Tali back on the Citadel. They'd talked it out later, came through it, and reached an understanding.

"I don't know," Shepard replied. "We'll see how the mining colony looks, see if there's anything still intact, and go from there." Williams nodded. "Any others?" Silent and shaken heads replied. "Saddle up."

This time, Tali was prepared. As Shepard launched Mako from Normandy's cargo bay, Tali watched exactly what Mako's computer was doing to stabilize their flight. This time, she could see where the program was wrong, and more importantly where she could adjust it. She altered timing of thruster firings, increased power to the vehicle's mass effect core, and adjusted suspension damping moments before impact. Their landing was smoother than last time.

The two vehicles thundered along the rocky landscape, passing destroyed mining equipment. "Geth didn't leave much standing," Williams noted as she trained Mako's turret toward any possible hiding place.

"Securing the area," Shepard noted. "Didn't want to leave their fleet where it's vulnerable, but didn't want to risk organized resistance against a token force."

Kaidan's voice came over the speaker. "Secured and moved on. Didn't even leave a sensor drone."

"Better for us," Shepard replied. "I'm all for slipping in under the radar."

"And giving them a bloody nose," William said, anticipation in her voice.

No one had the heart to remind her that geth didn't bleed.

"One and a half klicks to the colony," Shepard reported.

Tali checked over her console. "I'm not picking up any communications. Except…" She dug deeper, into the apparent static. "Wait. There's encrypted geth chatter."

"They spotted us?" Shepard asked.

"Unknown."

Thresher, driving ahead of them, turned as it moved to scan the skies behind them. Kaidan's voice came moments after. "Commander, we've got a dropship swinging in behind us!"

Williams had the turret turned immediately after, its report filling the cabin seconds later as she opened fire. "Tali," Williams shouted over the din, "this thing got any weak spots?"

"It relies on its shields," Tali reported. "The main shield generator is located amidships. If it loses the generator, it will bug out."

The dropship shot past them, slowing over the ridgeline ahead, deploying troops along their path. Rockets, supported by armature cannon fire, converged on Mako.

Mako launched, Shepard sending the vehicle soaring over the first volley of fire as Williams sent her first cannon shell into the mix of troops. Thresher was focused on the dropship, using its twin machine guns to weaken the dropship's shields. Shepard wasn't able to dodge the entire second volley, Mako's shields chipping down by 15%. They rocked hard as the dropship opened fire, its shot barely missing the vehicle. "Does that thing have any blind firing arcs?" Shepard shouted.

"Last report, directly underneath!" Tali replied. She prayed the reports were accurate…

"Then we're heading right in!" Shepard shoved the throttle open full, Mako's six wheels clawing the ground for traction up the hill. They bounded over the ridgeline… and Mako's hull landed atop the first armature, crushing it. Geth troops scattered as the dropship tried to move for a clear line of fire. Shepard whipped the vehicle around, fighting to stay in the blind firing arc. All the while Thresher, so far ignored by the geth for the more threatening target of Mako, continued to pepper the dropship.

Tali's console screamed. "The dropship's shields are buckling!"

"Ashley, hit it!" Williams did not hesitate. Her shot went straight and true, hitting the dropship squad amidships. With a brilliant flash, its shield collapsed. Its drive flared as it pulled a hard turn, running for cover.

"Good night," Williams said as she fired one last time.

Her final shell tore through the dropship's engines. It arced over the foothills, dropping out of view. Smoke and fire rose in the distance.

The remaining geth forces did not last long, the last rocket trooper falling to a burst of Thresher's machine gun fire. "Everyone all right?" Shepard asked.

"We're still in one piece," Kaidan replied.

"Good here," Tali said. Wrex grunted.

"Keep your guards up, people," Shepard said. "We're moving on."

They continued up the hill, and down into a narrow canyon. The next turn brought the mining colony into view… and an eerie silence stretched on ahead. All had expected some form of fortification. There was nothing. The gate was broken in, metal plates serving as the colony's walls blackened, smoking, and filled with holes. It didn't look good.

The vehicles stopped at the center of the mining colony. Nothing moved out to greet them from the shattered buildings, friendly or otherwise. Tali kept focused on the task at hand. "I'm reading wireless from the colony's computer. Connecting now." She heard Mako's turret swiveling as she connected, undoubtedly Williams using the turret's camera to check for any signs of life. After making sure the geth hadn't left a virus for anyone who came looking, she searched for the data they needed. "Here," she announced. "Dr. Liara T'Soni registered with this camp about two weeks ago. She moved to a dig site in an ancient volcano just north of here. Marking it on the map."

"Commander," Kaidan started, "Garrus and I are going to stick around here for a while. See if we can find any survivors."

"Roger that, Kaidan," Shepard replied. "We'll be back with the doctor shortly." He started them forward once again, through the colony's other blasted down gate. "Tali, keep an eye on those sensors. Make sure we don't miss any more geth sneaking up on us."

"I'm on it," she replied, eyes remaining glued to the sensor display. She knew the geth would have another dropship in the area supporting their troops. The question was if they would risk it when Mako and Thresher had already destroyed one. It all depended on just how badly they wanted to get Dr. T'Soni.

A new voice broke in over the comm. "Normandy to Mako," Joker's voice started, "we're on station overhead. Scanning the area ahead of you for geth activity."

"Thanks, Normandy," Shepard replied. "Good to have an eye in the sky."

"Data's coming in," Tali reported as she looked over the new extensions on the map. Red blips indicated probable geth. "We've got several patrols ahead of us, but they're all relatively small. A half dozen, at the most."

"Ready for them, Skipper," Williams replied as she trained Mako's turret ahead.

"Then we push through." Shepard pushed harder on the throttle, coaxing more speed from Mako as they reached the next climb.

Shepard barely broke Mako's stride, Williams swinging their turret back and forth to lob cannon slugs into each group of geth as they passed. Soon came silence as they broke through the geth patrols… and soon after Shepard stopped short. "What is it?" Tali asked as she leaned to look out he forward windows.

Rubble. Stacked high and packed tightly. Purposefully. "Roadblock," Shepard replied.

"Think we can jump it?" Williams asked.

Shepard looked around. A mountain face was to one side, a river of lava to the other. "Not sure I'd want to risk it," he replied. "Looks like we're on foot from here."

The four exited Mako, readying weapons. With the vehicle's turret set to autofire, Shepard led the way over the rubble, bringing his assault rifle to his shoulder as he landed on the other side. The team formed up as they started into a narrow gully, curving their way around and up the mountainside. All remained quiet as they rounded the final corner and approached the dig site, with its long ramp up to an entrance carved into the rock face. Shepard held up a fist, the others stopping. "I don't like this, Commander," Williams said. "After the patrols we hit, I was expecting some resistance coming up the hill."

"Agreed," Wrex commented. "I smell an ambush."

Shepard nodded. "Yeah, me too. Problem is," he continued, pointing at the entrance, "that's the only way in that I see, and I doubt we have the time to find another entrance. We'll wade in carefully, and watch for the trap."

The red landscape was littered with structures from previous mining or digging efforts. Larger, garage like structures were flanked with multiple prefabricated barracks and sheds. There was no movement as they approached, the only sound being the wind. Tali's pistol stayed out, her HUD crosshairs drifting over each opening she could see as she checked for any possible geth.

There was one large clearing before the ramp to the dig site. Shepard paused one moment, pointed to it, then raised his hand and twirled a finger. Translation: That's the most likely area for the trap to spring. Keep watch around us.

Tali suddenly wondered about Kal. He was thinking of learning new tactics for their marines. Had he learned anything like she had?

Wrex stepped out first, assault rifle swinging between buildings. Shepard and Williams both did the same, Tali following close behind. They entered the clearing, ready for whatever came next.

Tali wasn't sure if they were really ready for what they found.

One of the shacks detonated as they reached the clearing's center. From the scattering debris, Tali saw five figures stand.

Armatures. And this time, Mako's strong shields and armor wasn't there to stop the incoming attacks.

"Get back!" Shepard yelled as they fell back to the buildings. Blue energy blasts passed all around them, glancing off shields and somehow not tearing the team to pieces. "We can't take those head on," he said.

"Divide and conquer," Williams replied. "Split 'em up, try to take them when they're on their own."

"Or at least when they aren't all giving each other cover fire," Wrex commented. "Get in close and hit 'em where they're weak." He shrugged. "Or maybe just in that flashlight head of theirs. Easy to target."

"Best place, too," Tali replied. "If they're charging to fire, their weapon makes for a good weak point."

"Well," Wrex said, "guess my instincts are still good."

"All right," Shepard said. "Williams, take Wrex and circle around to the other side of those buildings," he ordered, pointing toward one of the shacks. "Tali, you're with me. Move!"

No time for debate, the team split into two parts. The armatures started after them, two working toward Williams and Wrex with the other three coming for Tali and Shepard. "Come on," Shepard said. "Got an idea, but we need a little room." He started around another shack, Tali remaining close behind.

Williams and Wrex had already managed some distance on their pair of armatures. One had stopped near the center of the clearing, head training back and forth as it searched for the targets. Wrex charged across a gap, the armature quickly focusing in and charging its primary weapon. A high powered slug punched through its shields and straight into the center of its head, the energy buildup released in a small explosion. The geth toppled.

Wrex looked back at Williams. "Next time, you're the bait!"

The other trio of armatures had spread out into the cluster of shacks, all working to cover possible avenues of approach. None exposed their heads as they charged weapons, already adapting to the tactics used by the team.

Shepard finally came to a stop, Tali slowing to stop next to him. He peeked out from behind one structure, ducking back. "Okay, we're behind them. How many tech mines to you have?"

"Pleanty," she replied. "How many do you want?"

She could hear Shepard's smile. "As many as you can throw."

They each prepped their ordinance and, on Shepard's command, stepped out from cover. Tali hurled four mines, set for overload charges. All detonated by the armature closest to them. It turned to return fire, the others turning to assist, but Shepard had already thrown four of his grenades. They detonated as one, shredding the armature as both ducked back into cover.

The lone armature tracking Williams and Wrex had slowed its search, using a more methodical pattern to keep from being snuck up on. Still, with two armatures down and far fewer geth in the area, its effective intelligence was gradually diminishing. Its reactions were almost instinctive. Meaning that it focused on the first threat when Williams stepped from cover, gave it a burst of assault rifle fire, and started to sprint for another shack.

Wrex stepped out next, on the armature's other side, and peppered it with another burst. Williams hit it again as it turned to track the krogan. That moments distraction was all Wrex needed. He balled his fist, dark energy boiling around it as he tightened his grip. A mass of energy formed around one of the armature's legs, crushing a hip joint and crippling it. Wrex pulled his hand back, then thrust it out sharply. The armature was thrown into a nearby wall, dazed. Wrex and Williams approached easily, the pair unloading their shotguns into the armature until it finally went still.

Tali watched the remaining pair of armatures. They were remaining close, maximizing their remaining capability and maintaining full watch over the other. She considered another plan. With five, even with three, her plan wouldn't have worked. But with two… They might not be able to block her. She pulled another tech mine, omni-tool glowing orange as she held the mine at its center. Shepard watched her. "What are you doing?"

"Just watch." She stepped out and hurled the mine. It hit its mark, magnetically sticking to the body of the armature. It glowed bright orange, the geth's exposed power cabling shifting colors to match. She tapped a few commands into her omni-tool… and the armature turned to fire on its remaining fellow. It did not stand a chance, falling with the second hit.

The hacked armature remained standing, waiting for the next instruction. Tali knew it would not be long before it broke through the hack. She needed to move quickly. Without a word, she jumped from cover and sprinted toward the armature. "Tali!" she heard Shepard yell from behind her.

"Trust me!" she shouted back.

Tali leapt up, climbing onto the geth's back as she looked for an access cover. She found the seam, but she couldn't get her fingers into it. She pulled her right leg up, reaching down to pull the knife she carried in her right boot and using it to pry the access cover open. Within lay power conduits, mobility servos… and the data core. She held her omni-tool over it, downloading all the recent files she could before it could wipe itself. Then, with one fast motion, she swiped her knife through the power conduits and jumped clear as the armature collapsed.

By then, the others had joined her. "Nice work," Williams said.

"Thanks, Chief Williams," Tali replied. "You, too."

Shepard looked over the armature as Wrex gave it a kick. "I like that trick," he said. "You should do that more often."

Tali nodded. "Have to be careful when you hack them," she replied. "Too many geth in the area, and they can block it easily. Use it too often, and they could adapt to the technique and send it to the others."

"Did you get anything good from it?" Shepard asked.

Tali brought her omni-tool up for examination, sifting through the recovered files. "I have their mission on this world. Confirms that they were sent here to collect Dr. T'Soni. Saren's forces have been unable to contact her, and they aren't taking any chances that she would decline to join them."

"And the miners were just collateral damage…" Shepard noted. Tali nodded. "Seems to be Saren's specialty..." He sighed. "Come on. Let's go rescue our wayward scientist."

Carefully, watching for any further signs of ambush, the four crossed the final clearing and proceeded up the long ramp to the dig site entrance. Part of her was uncomfortable walking into a volcano, no matter how long it had been dormant. No telling when that period might end. Still, the mission was clear. Shepard led the way in, and Tali followed.

They found few geth troops within, mostly basic combat platforms there mainly for security rather than assault. They fell before the team's weapons quickly as they continued down the metal catwalks. The tunnel soon opened up into a massive cavern, a clearly artificial, white tile like, structure in the distance. It had multiple levels, openings covered by force fields, and another network of catwalks overhead reaching back the way they'd come.

There had clearly been some activity there. Multiple geth platforms lay scattered on the cavern floor… civilians among them. Miners seeking refuge? Or the doctor's assistants?

Was Dr. T'Soni among them?

"All right," Shepard started. "Wrex and I will start looking over the structure. Ash, Tali, start looking over the rest of the cavern. See if there's any clue to how the geth were getting in there."

Williams nodded. "Aye, aye, skipper." She looked to Tali. "Shall we?"

"Certainly, Chief."

The two women started across the littered cavern, each with a different focus. Williams looked over various datapads and computer consoles, looking for an unlocked terminal to look for any possible recorded access points. Tali tried to understand what the geth might have been thinking, given what she understood about their coding. However, as she knelt and picked over her third geth platform, she found herself having better luck finding components that were undamaged than a salvageable databank.

"What are you doing?"

Tali turned, finding Williams standing nearby. Her tone had not been accusatory, but rather curious. Tali leaned back, allowing Williams to see. "Looking for anything useful," Tali replied.

Willams knelt beside her. "Like what?"

"Armor, power systems, communications equipment, weapons. Anything we might use to either give ourselves an advantage or just improve what we have." Tali reached into the platform, grabbing hold of a small cylindrical component. "For example," she said as she pulled it free. "This is a kinetic barrier generator. Not a type I've seen before. I don't know if it's necessarily stronger than what we have on board, but…" She ran it over her omni-tool. No tracking programs. "I'll bring it along, see what we can make of it."

"Nice," Williams replied. "Any more data we could use?"

Tali shook her head. "No. This one's memory core is fried." She looked around more. "But I do see something you might like."

"Oh?"

She stood, walking to another fallen figure. Krogan… Possibly a mercenary hired for this attack. She wasn't interested in the krogan, though. She was interested in his assault rifle. Tali grabbed it, holding it up for Williams to inspect. "What do you make of this?"

Willams took the rifle, looking it over. It's casing had a massive hole in its side, internals appearing fused. "Took a slug right through its primary field generator. Might be able to fix it on a workbench, but out here it's junk."

"Maybe not," Tali replied as she accepted it back from Williams. She grasped the edge of the broken casing, pulling it until it snapped off. Williams seemed surprised. Sometimes it was nice to be stronger than one looked. She continued to chip away at the casing, showing several undamaged components. "He kept his rifle up to date," Tali explained. "He had a larger barrel installed, with a secondary field generator to support it. Larger slugs without the usual drop in fire rate." Weapons technology was not her usual interest, but when you had marines for friends you picked up a thing or two. After collecting the components, she flipped the rifle over and grabbed its ammunition pack. It looked different from the usual metal slug material. "Looks like a tungsten/platinum mixture," she commented. "Higher density, more mass per shot. Better penetration." She pulled the clip, holding it out to Williams. "The other components will have to wait until later, but you can switch this out now and get a bit more punch."

Williams accepted the new ammunition, loading it into her assault rifle. "Thanks," she said, her voice continuing to show her surprise.

"You're welcome, Chief Williams," Tali replied.

As she turned to continue the search, though, Williams's voice stopped her. "Hey…" Tali looked back. "I know I haven't always been the most… friendly to you here. I've…" She paused. Then, she shook her head. Clearly, whatever she was about to explain sounded wrong in her mind. "Really, there's no good excuse. You've done right by us, and I don't just mean this." She tapped her rifle, Tali nodding understanding. "I just want to say… I'm sorry for how I've acted."

Tali smiled. "No apology necessary, Chief. Shipmates stand together, no matter what."

Williams gave a small chuckle, and Tali could hear her smile. "I like that idea." She started ahead, moving to the next computer to check. "And please, call me Ash."

The continued search brought them nothing. Tali found some more tech to send home, but otherwise they were empty handed. Tali wondered if Shepard and Wrex had any better luck…

Then a bright flash of light and a loud detonation filled the cavern. Tali and Ash looked to each other for a moment, then both sprinted toward the source. "Commander?" Ash yelled over the comm.

There was a cloud of dust by the base of the structure, Shepard emerging from it. His helmet was off, and he was coughing. Wrex followed him out, waving the air clear before him. Shepard looked back to him, a smirk on his face. "Told ya it would work."

"Yeah, yeah," Wrex replied. "I owe you five credits."

"What happened? Are you all right?" Ash asked as she and Tali slowed to a stop.

Shepard looked to him, jerking a thumb over his shoulder. "Found her. She's trapped inside the ruin's security fields. Needed to blast our way in, and spotted an oversized mining laser over there." He pointed out beside them. Tali followed his gesture to the laser, then back to him as he continued. "We're through the wall."

"We're right with you, Commander," Ash replied.

Shepard pulled his helmet back on, heading into the new hole he'd just blasted. The others picked their way through, forming up on the far side as they all continued in.

It was all white tile and dark displays. Tali could only guess at the place's function; perhaps a place to study the volcano. A ramp led them upward. An asari was there… trapped inside a flowing energy field. "Is… is that you, Commander?" She tried to turn to see, but was unable to move.

"I'm here, Dr. T'Soni," he replied. His voice was calm, soothing. Tali saw the doctor relax… or at least relax as much as she could while being held aloft by an energy field. "We'll have you out of there in a moment." He approached a console beside her. "Okay… Which did you hit?"

"I hit the control on the left side of the panel," she explained. "Having had considerable time to study that panel, I believe the control to release this field is the large green square on the panel's right side."

"All right," Shepard replied. "Hang on, I'm hitting the control."

"To what?" she asked. "There isn't exactly a convenient hand hold to…" And Shepard cut the field, dumping the asari unceremoniously to the floor. Shepard and Ask stepped over, helping her back to her feet. "Ah… Thank you, Commander." She dusted off her white and green jumpsuit.

Didn't anyone tell her that shade of green clashed with her blue skin… Then again, looking at some envirosuit color combinations, her people didn't have much room to talk.

"You're welcome." He looked out beyond the nearby security field back into the cavern. "We should get moving before more geth show up."

"Agreed," Dr. T'Soni replied. "I've seen enough of this place to last a lifetime." She looked over the others, nodding her thanks to each. "There's an elevator at the back of this facility. We should be able to use it to…" A rumbling started around them, ground vibrating below. "Commander… how exactly did you get in here?"

"We found a mining laser," he explained. "Used it to break through the structure's walls."

"You must have triggered a seismic event," she said. The vibration got worse, damaged tiles starting to fall. "These runis won't last for long in this."

Shepard pointed toward the elevator, the team forming up to run down the corridor. Shepard's voice came over the hardsuit communicators. "Normandy, this is Shepard! We're going to need a quick extraction, here!"

"We see it," Joker's voice came back. "Too much shit in the way to grab you there. Get to the Mako and boost yourself up. I'll do the rest."

"Got it!" They got to the elevator, T'Soni tapping its console and starting their ascent.

As the rumbling continued, there was little else they could do but hold on and pray. Tali looked to Shepard. His eyes were looking up. Was he praying, too? Did he not see a way out of this? No… He was focused… Tali followed his gaze. He was watching the ledge, waiting to see what might be waiting for them when they got there.

He wasn't concerned over the problem around them at all. He was looking at the next problem.

Tali grabbed her shotgun. She might not know what was coming next, but that didn't mean she had to sit passively and let it happen to her. If Shepard had a plan, she'd use that as her cue.

The elevator came to a stop, the team forming up around T'Soni as they started for the door. Shepard stopped short. A group had gathered before them; geth platforms with a korgan mercenary at the head. "Well, I was wondering who'd taken down the security field," the krogan started. "Thanks for the help." He held his shotgun out. "Now hand her over."

Shepard looked to T'Soni, who simply shook her head. "Nah, I think she'd rather stay with us."

"Doesn't matter what she wants," the krogan replied. "Saren wants her, and I'm not about to go back on my contact."

Wrex stepped forward. "I know that voice. Dagg?"

The krogan recoiled slightly, his shotgun dropping. "Wrex? What are you doing here?"

"Working," Wrex replied as he pulled off his helmet. "Always knew you were dumb, Dagg, but I thought you were smart enough to steer clear of Saren."

"It was good money," Dagg said. "Urdnot could use it."

"Maybe. But trust me. I've seen how Saren operates." He paused a moment. "You keep working for him, and you'll get worse than nothing. You'll get dead."

Dagg started at Wrex for a moment, as if debating how much to trust him. "You'd better be playing straight with me, Wrex."

The geth platforms all turned heads to stare at Dagg. They'd figured out already that the mercenary was about to leave them. Tali watched… and saw the first weapon twitch. "Look out!" She reached into her pocket, grabbed two sabotage tech mines, and threw.

They detonated just in time, geth pulse rifles overheating moments before they could fire. Dagg quickly backed away, his shotgun turning on the nearest geth platform as Shepard's squad joined the fight.

The platforms were too closely grouped to escape, and quickly succumbed to the combined fire.

And the rumbling started to grow progressively worse. "Move it!" Shepard yelled. Ash went ahead, leading T'Soni with Tali close behind. Wrex looked to Shepard, who nodded as he started to run, then gave Dagg a healthy shove toward the exit. "Come on, Pyjak, I'm not leaving a clan mate to die in this hole."

The five sprinted along the catwalks, picking their way through the ever growing dust cloud. Ash's group reached the exit, turning back to watch for Shepard and the others. Tali started to see an eerie red glow emanating from the depths of the cavern.

So… Not just a seismic event… That laser had awoken the volcano.

Shepard rounded the corner, two krogan bringing up the rear. "Go!" he yelled. "Get Mako ready to lift off!"

"Aye!" Ash immediately turned and continued her sprint, Tali trying to match her stride with T'Soni a few steps behind. They ran back the way they'd come, picking through the rocks of the roadblock and approaching Mako. The vehicle was right where they'd left it, engine still running as Ash pulled open its access hatch.

T'Soni strapped in to one bench as Tali took her usual station. Ash sat in the driver's seat, readying their thrusters for maximum lift. "There!" Ash yelled as she other trio came down the mountainside. And behind them… "Oh my God…" A river of lava flowed behind them, far faster than Tali was comfortable with seeing.

Tali started a silent prayer to Keelah, praying that the others made it back to the Mako safely.

Praying that HE would make it back safely.

Shepard bounded over the rocks, sliding to a stop at the hatch. He turned, waiting for Wrex and Dagg. He needed to know that his whole team, including their random defecting mercenary, were aboard. The two krogan crested the pile, sliding down and rushing to join him. Shepard waved them aboard, jumping in after them and pulling the hatch shut. "We're all in!" he yelled.

"Normandy," Ash said into the communicator, "we're ready to lift. You ready to catch?"

"Coming in now, Mako," Joker replied. "Punch it!"

Ash's hand landed on the thruster controls, the vehicle rocketing upward as the lava flowed over the roadblock and over the patch Mako had just been. Their ascent slowed as the thrusters reached capacity, Mako starting to stall…

And suddenly, Tali saw Normandy's cargo bay come up from all sides. The frigate had swooped in and swallowed them in the nick of time. Ash cut the thrusters, allowing the vehicle to drop onto the deck.

All six simply sat there and breathed for a moment, happy to be among the living. Finally, Ash tapped the comm. "Mako aboard, Joker. Thanks."

"Any time, Chief. Thresher's already here, Commander. Where to next?"

"Up, for now," Shepard replied. "Need to see what we've got before we make the next move." Shepard looked to the others, and to T'Soni. "Everyone, take half an hour to change out and clean up, then meet me in the briefing room. This one might be interesting."


End file.
